4 Responses to “Quite extraordinary that he would be asking foreign nationals for money”

• #1

  eveningperson

  June 28, 2016 at 9:54 am

  Not only extraordinary, but isn’t it illegal under US law?
• #2

  Ophelia Benson

  June 28, 2016 at 10:14 am

  Hmm, good question. I don’t know.
• #3

  Freemage

  June 28, 2016 at 10:55 am

  It very, very much is illegal: http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/foreign.shtml

  Even ASKING for the money from a foreign national is flat-out illegal. The only defense he would seem to have (from the link above) is as follows:

  Soliciting, Accepting, or Receiving Contributions and Donations from Foreign Nationals

  As noted earlier, the Act prohibits knowingly soliciting, accepting or receiving contributions or donations from foreign nationals. In this context, “knowingly” means that a person:

  Has actual knowledge that the funds solicited, accepted, or received are from a foreign national;

  Is aware of facts that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the funds solicited, accepted, or received are likely to be from a foreign national;

  Is aware of facts that would lead a reasonable person to inquire whether the source of the funds solicited, accepted or received is a foreign national.

  11 CFR 110.20(a)(4)(i), (ii) and (iii).

  Pertinent facts that may lead to inquiry by the recipient include, but are not limited to the following: A donor or contributor uses a foreign passport, provides a foreign address,

  makes a contribution from a foreign bank, or resides abroad. Obtaining a copy of a current and valid U.S. passport would satisfy the duty to inquire whether the funds solicited, accepted, or received are from a foreign national. 11 CFR 110.20(a)(7).

  The key bit seems to be that the campaign might be able to get away with claiming they were using a bought list that just happened to include a bunch of foreign politicians. So they can try to say they had no idea whom they were asking for money from. Now, I’d be very interested to know if anyone did donate in response.
• #4

  eveningperson

  June 28, 2016 at 5:28 pm

  It appears that similar emails have also been sent to other parliamentarians.