Myanmar Military's $3 Million US Lobbying Deal Expands Into Media Outreach and Roger Stone Role

A costly push for access in Washington

Myanmar's military authorities committed $3 million to a year of lobbying and public relations work by DCI Group AZ, LLC, with two payments of $1.5 million due in 2025. Disclosures covering the following months show how that effort developed: outreach to American policy figures, payments to consulting companies, a new media campaign and a role for veteran political operative Roger Stone.

The Ministry of Information hired the Washington firm to rebuild relations with the United States, focusing on trade, natural resources and humanitarian relief. The agreement took effect on July 31, 2025, the same day the military leadership nominally transferred power to a civilian government after more than four years of rule following its February 2021 coup.

Myanmar's embassy in the United States hired another firm, the McKeon Group, the next day. Its six months of advisory work cost $180,000 per quarter, bringing the stated commitments under the two contracts to $3.36 million, although their contract periods differed.

The campaign reached beyond meetings with government officials. DCI disclosed contacts with commentators whose subsequent articles argued for American engagement with Myanmar or discussed its mineral resources. By March 2026, the firm was also distributing material under the name Myanmar Democracy Now.

Human rights campaigners condemned the spending as an attempt to gain acceptance for military rule while Myanmar remained engulfed in civil war. The records provide a detailed picture of the people, spending and communications behind that effort. Its effect on American government decisions remains unknown.

What the ministry bought

The agreement's stated purpose was to rebuild relations between Myanmar and the United States through public affairs services. In practical terms, that means trying to influence how officials, journalists and other influential people understand the country and its government.

Deputy Permanent Secretary Myint Kyaw signed for the Ministry of Information. DCI managing partners Brian McCabe and Justin Peterson signed for the firm. Initial reporting placed the signatures on July 4, 2025, with the agreement beginning on July 31; the subsequent registration statement was filed on August 1.

The $3 million annual fee was divided into equal installments. The first was due when the agreement took effect, and the second was due on or before December 31, 2025. Those are contractual payment dates, rather than a full account of when money reached the firm.

Natural resources were an explicit part of the assignment, alongside trade and humanitarian relief. That combination put commercial opportunities and assistance for people in need within the same communications campaign. Later outreach about minerals followed one of the priorities written into the agreement.

The embassy's separate contract gave McKeon a more specific institutional focus: developing diplomatic relations through Congress and the State Department. At $180,000 per quarter for two quarters, its stated cost was $360,000. DCI's annual contract was more than eight times that amount, though it covered twice as much time.

Legal protections and the December agreement

The initial DCI deal included certifications concerning sanctioned individuals and entities, along with provisions protecting the firm against certain liabilities arising from conduct by the client or its affiliates. Sanctions are government restrictions that can block transactions or freeze assets connected to designated people and organizations.

A later agreement filed with FARA, signed on December 17, 2025, and received by the Justice Department's registration unit the following day, spells out further financial and legal protections for the consultant.

The document requires the client to cover specified costs, including reasonable lawyers' fees, when the consultant, its employees, subcontractors or agents must participate in legal or regulatory proceedings, investigations or audits arising from the work. Producing documents and giving testimony are among the activities covered. An exception applies when the proceedings directly result from negligence or willful misconduct by the consultant or those working for it.

The agreement also limits the consultant's liability to the fees paid during the 12 months before the conduct giving rise to the obligation. It excludes several other categories of damages, including lost profits. Disputes must be heard in specified District of Columbia courts, without a jury. These terms determine who carries financial risk if the business relationship produces a legal dispute.

Who worked on the Myanmar account?

DCI's registrations under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA, identify a growing group of people assigned to the ministry's work. FARA requires disclosure of certain activities undertaken in the United States for foreign clients, making parts of lobbying relationships publicly visible.

Partner Ryan Grillo registered his Myanmar work on August 1, 2025. Senior adviser Doug Davenport registered on August 13 as a consultant supporting the contract. An amendment filed that same day said Davenport had become a DCI employee on August 1.

Davenport brought experience from DCI's earlier work for Myanmar's military government in 2002. His return connects the current effort to a lobbying relationship that began more than two decades earlier.

Director Adam Shaw and vice president Kelly Love registered their work on December 3, 2025. A supplemental statement filed on December 17 listed five representatives on the Myanmar account: Peterson, Grillo, Davenport, senior account executive Brendon Welsh and account executive Theodore Witt.

That statement described Davenport as a consultant, despite the earlier amendment identifying him as an employee. It reported no activities for the ministry during its reporting period, April 1 to September 30, 2025. A later statement covering October through March listed Shaw, Love and Stone on the account, while several people previously associated with Myanmar were assigned to other clients.

Roger Stone's role and the payment trail

Roger Stone registered on April 29, 2026, as a consultant supporting DCI's work for the Ministry of Information, at a monthly retainer of $50,000. A retainer is a recurring payment for someone's services or availability.

DCI's subsequent disclosure placed the start of his role on February 27, just over two months before his registration. Stone already had other consulting relationships with DCI, including work involving the Bahamas and Nigeria.

The firm reported seven retainers totaling $1.5 million for the Myanmar account during the period from October 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026. Its payment disclosures also listed $240,000 in retainers to Davenport Ventures, $368 for services from Kult Creatives LLC and $50,000 in retainers to Drake Ventures LLC.

Corporate information and another FARA registration connect Doug Davenport to Davenport Ventures. A possible connection between Drake Ventures and Roger and Nydia Stone was also identified. The precise relationship between the Myanmar payment to Drake Ventures and Stone's monthly retainer was not explained.

Roger and Nydia Stone had agreed to a $2 million settlement in 2022 in a tax case involving Drake Ventures. That earlier case concerned alleged tax avoidance, while the Myanmar disclosures describe payments for the lobbying assignment. Questions about the Myanmar work sent to DCI, Davenport and Stone's lawyer received no response.

Five disclosed activities and a wider media campaign

DCI reported five activities for the ministry between October 2025 and March 2026. They included a media alert concerning the US government's November 2025 decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Myanmar nationals. That immigration designation allows eligible people from designated countries to remain and work temporarily in the United States.

The remaining activities were emails to conservative policy analyst and consultant Shonda Werry and former Republican congressman Dave Brat in January 2026, plus two calls to energy and foreign policy analyst Wesley Hill in January and February. DCI described those contacts as being for strategic engagement.

Brat's article advocating American engagement with Myanmar appeared on January 12, three days after DCI emailed him. Myanmar's military controlled newspaper republished it five days later. The article did not mention DCI.

Hill published articles about Myanmar on February 10 and March 27. The first, concerning opportunities linked to a new American minerals stockpile, appeared a week after DCI's second call to him. Neither article mentioned the firm. Hill denied receiving payment from DCI or working under its direction, and said he wrote his own articles without payment from third parties.

Hill, an analyst specializing in critical minerals and competition between China and the United States, said he believed he had spoken with DCI in early 2026 but did not recall the details. Explaining his contacts with people discussing policy, he said:

I take a lot of meetings and talk to anybody who will listen about niche policy dynamics,

Werry did not respond to questions about her correspondence with DCI. No Myanmar publication or activity by her was identified in the investigation of those contacts.

Brat became US ambassador to Australia in September 2026. Responding to questions about his earlier activities, a State Department spokesman said on October 16:

The Department of State does not comment on an individual's personal capacity, prior to being confirmed by the U.S. Senate and entering public service.

DCI also began distributing news and information for the ministry in March 2026 through a website and Facebook, X and Instagram accounts using the name Myanmar Democracy Now. The outreach therefore combined direct contact with individuals and communications aimed at a broader public audience.

A return to an old client

DCI first worked for Myanmar's military government in April 2002, when the country was ruled by the State Peace and Development Council. That engagement lasted about eight months, into early 2003.

The earlier campaign sought to improve the government's international image, including presenting the intelligence apparatus associated with General Khin Nyunt as receptive to reform. Khin Nyunt was removed and arrested in an internal military power struggle in 2004, after the disclosed lobbying engagement had ended.

The old relationship continued to carry political costs in Washington. In 2008, two DCI executives resigned from Republican presidential candidate John McCain's campaign amid criticism of the firm's Myanmar work.

DCI's other clients have included Azerbaijan's government and EN+ Group, a company linked to the Russian aluminum industry that previously faced US sanctions. The European Union's Washington office also hired DCI to help navigate relations following Donald Trump's return to the presidency. Those assignments show the range of foreign clients seeking the firm's political and communications services.

Sanctions, elections and the fight over legitimacy

The 2025 contract became public shortly after the Trump administration removed sanctions on some people and entities linked to Myanmar's military authorities. Tom Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, called that sanctions decision "unconscionable."

Human rights campaigners connected the lobbying campaign to the military's effort to secure international acceptance before elections. After the July 2025 nominal transfer to civilian government, the authorities declared victory in elections in January 2026 that critics described as staged.

Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice For Myanmar, accused the military of diverting public wealth into its campaign for recognition. Condemning the contract when it became public, she said:

The Myanmar military is spending millions of stolen funds to whitewash its atrocities and gain political legitimacy ahead of its sham elections,

Maung also called for sanctions to cover the State Security and Peace Commission, the body created during the reorganization of military rule. Her concern was that changing an institution's name and formal structure could allow the authorities to move around restrictions aimed at the State Administration Council.

The military's reorganization, its election campaign and its spending in Washington were parts of the same effort to rebuild foreign relationships. For people affected by the conflict, the concrete issues include where public money goes, how humanitarian help reaches communities and whether foreign governments maintain pressure over abuses.

How the campaign developed

The disclosures trace an effort that began with contracts in July and August 2025 and developed into a broader communications operation during 2026. The main dates are:

• July 4, 2025: The initial agreement was reported signed by DCI representatives.
• July 31, 2025: The $3 million DCI agreement took effect as the military announced a nominal transfer to civilian government.
• August 1, 2025: DCI filed its registration statement, and Myanmar's embassy hired the McKeon Group.
• December 17 and 18, 2025: A later agreement was signed and received by the FARA registration unit.
• January and February 2026: DCI contacted Brat, Werry and Hill.
• February 27, 2026: Stone began his Myanmar role, according to DCI's later disclosure.
• March 2026: DCI began distributing Myanmar Democracy Now content.
• April 29, 2026: Stone registered the Myanmar assignment.
• May 31, 2026: DCI filed its statement covering activities and payments from October through March.

The records chart a progression from hiring politically connected firms to paying consultants, contacting commentators and distributing material directly. They also show why the contract's $3 million headline captures only part of the story: the account involved multiple people, separate payment arrangements and several ways of trying to influence discussion about Myanmar.

Key Points

• Myanmar's Ministry of Information hired DCI for $3 million annually to rebuild US relations through work on trade, natural resources and humanitarian relief.
• A separate embassy contract with McKeon committed $360,000 over six months.
• Roger Stone's Myanmar role began in February 2026, according to DCI, and carried a stated monthly retainer of $50,000.
• DCI disclosed outreach to policy commentators and began distributing Myanmar Democracy Now content in March 2026.
• A December agreement requires the client to cover specified legal costs and limits the consultant's financial liability.
• Human rights campaigners condemned the lobbying as an effort to secure acceptance for military rule and called for sanctions to cover its reorganized institutions.