Government watchdog groups have a filed a complaint alleging that the Donald Trump campaign broke federal election laws when a fundraising solicitation went to several foreign email addresses.
Two groups, Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21, who work to combat the influence of big money in politics, announced they would be filing the complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday.
In the filing, the groups argue that a fundraising email from Trump’s campaign this month went to “dozens” of politicians from Iceland, Scotland, Australia and Britain, as noted by media and tweets, with email addresses ending in foreign domains including “.uk” and “.is.”
Campaign donations from foreign nationals are prohibited by federal election law, and the groups claim that Trump emailing obviously foreign addresses also is a violation.
“Donald Trump should have known better,” Paul S. Ryan, CLC deputy executive director, said in a statement. “It is a no-brainer that it violates the law to send fundraising emails to members of a foreign government on their official foreign government email accounts, and yet, that’s exactly what Trump has done repeatedly.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the complaint.
FEC spokesman Christian Hilland said the commission cannot comment on candidates or hypothetical enforcement matters, adding that federal law prohibits the release of information on complaints before the commission.
Federal law prohibits donations from foreign nationals to campaigns. “It is also unlawful to help foreign nationals violate that ban or to solicit, receive or accept contributions or donations from them,” says FEC guidance.
But former FEC Chairman and counsel to the Republican National Committee Michael Toner, a CNN delegate analyst, said that while the law prohibits soliciting donations from foreigners, there is also a “safe harbor” for campaigns.
“The key is for the campaign to not knowingly solicit contributions from foreign nationals and to exercise due diligence in reviewing solicitation lists and examining contributions when they are received to confirm that they are lawful,” Toner told CNN.
One way campaigns can demonstrate due diligence is by getting a copy of a donor’s passport photo if the donation comes from foreign bank accounts.
“All this being said, if a campaign inadvertently solicits contributions from a few foreign nationals and refunds any foreign national contributions that are brought to its attention, I don’t believe the FEC would take any adverse action against the campaign,” Toner said.
