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Wikileaks - Foreigners Fundraising for Hillary

jonny5

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https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/11915

On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 2:40 PM, Dennis Cheng <dcheng@hillaryclinton.com>
wrote:

We really need make a policy decision on this soon - whether we are
allowing those lobbying on behalf of foreign governments to raise $ for the
campaign. Or case by case.

On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 2:59 PM, Marc Elias <melias@hillaryclinton.com>
wrote:

This is really a straight up political call. One middle option is to take
case by case. If, for example, they are FARA registered for Canada, we may
not case. If for N. Korea we would.

I dont know if this is legal or not, but it sure shows the hypocrasy of the democrats in regards to campaign financing. They dont actually care about big money in politics, so long as they dont get caught.
 
I dont know if this is legal or not, but it sure shows the hypocrasy of the democrats in regards to campaign financing. They dont actually care about big money in politics, so long as they dont get caught.

It's illegal.

Can non-US citizens contribute?

Foreign nationals are prohibited from making any contributions or expenditures in connection with any election in the U.S. Please note, however, that "green card" holders (i.e., individuals lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the U.S.) are not considered foreign nationals and, as a result, may contribute. For additional information, consult our "Foreign Nationals" brochure.
 
Sort of like how the Trump campaign was busted soliciting Chinese donations night before last?
 
I dont know if this is legal or not, but it sure shows the hypocrasy of the democrats in regards to campaign financing. They dont actually care about big money in politics, so long as they dont get caught.

It's illegal.

To your statements, I'm not sure if it's illegal. It does make the current Democratic establishment wildly hypocritical, that's for sure. They, no different than he Republican establishment, don't really give a damn about consistency or truth, so there's not much that I can do about that., other than work to vote those ones out of office.

As for whether or not it's illegal, that's extremely contingent upon what "fundraising" means. If the foreign nationals personally contributed? Oh yeah, that's wildly illegal, and they will go to jail for that and if the Hillary campaign or super PACs knew about it, they'd go to jail, too. However, that being said, fundraising means a lot more than just simply contributing money. They could also organize, provide venues, and numerous other things that could lead to other American citizens contributing. I'm not sure if that is illegal. Now, irrespective of my belief that that should be illegal, I think it's unethical and should be rebuked. Even so, Trump literally attempted to solicit contributions from foreign leaders, so yeah. It's a pretty great election.
 
To your statements, I'm not sure if it's illegal. It does make the current Democratic establishment wildly hypocritical, that's for sure. They, no different than he Republican establishment, don't really give a damn about consistency or truth, so there's not much that I can do about that., other than work to vote those ones out of office.

As for whether or not it's illegal, that's extremely contingent upon what "fundraising" means. If the foreign nationals personally contributed? Oh yeah, that's wildly illegal, and they will go to jail for that and if the Hillary campaign or super PACs knew about it, they'd go to jail, too. However, that being said, fundraising means a lot more than just simply contributing money. They could also organize, provide venues, and numerous other things that could lead to other American citizens contributing. I'm not sure if that is illegal. Now, irrespective of my belief that that should be illegal, I think it's unethical and should be rebuked. Even so, Trump literally attempted to solicit contributions from foreign leaders, so yeah. It's a pretty great election.

It's illegal, regardless if it's Trump or Clinton, Democrat or Republican.
 
It probably also shouldn't be illegal, however much that opinion cuts against the grain of this era. We are the pre-eminent nation in the world, and the fates of millions of foreigners can hinge on the outcome of an American election. I can understand their desire to influence that outcome, and if their contributions can be publicly documented and limited by the same laws as domestic contributions, would support their right to make them.
 
To your statements, I'm not sure if it's illegal. It does make the current Democratic establishment wildly hypocritical, that's for sure. They, no different than he Republican establishment, don't really give a damn about consistency or truth, so there's not much that I can do about that., other than work to vote those ones out of office.

As for whether or not it's illegal, that's extremely contingent upon what "fundraising" means. If the foreign nationals personally contributed? Oh yeah, that's wildly illegal, and they will go to jail for that and if the Hillary campaign or super PACs knew about it, they'd go to jail, too. However, that being said, fundraising means a lot more than just simply contributing money. They could also organize, provide venues, and numerous other things that could lead to other American citizens contributing. I'm not sure if that is illegal. Now, irrespective of my belief that that should be illegal, I think it's unethical and should be rebuked. Even so, Trump literally attempted to solicit contributions from foreign leaders, so yeah. It's a pretty great election.

Legality is pretty easy to determine, but this should really expose the campaign financing hypocrisy coming from Dems. They constantly rail against big money and corporate donations in public, while raising as much as they can from anywhere they can, in private. If we had real cable news journlists, this would be 24/7 news. But I bet its all about sex.
 
It probably also shouldn't be illegal, however much that opinion cuts against the grain of this era. We are the pre-eminent nation in the world, and the fates of millions of foreigners can hinge on the outcome of an American election. I can understand their desire to influence that outcome, and if their contributions can be publicly documented and limited by the same laws as domestic contributions, would support their right to make them.

Not sure I can agree with that. I would never even consider trying to influence another countries elections. Why is it morally right for them to do it to us?
 
Legality is pretty easy to determine, but this should really expose the campaign financing hypocrisy coming from Dems. They constantly rail against big money and corporate donations in public, while raising as much as they can from anywhere they can, in private. If we had real cable news journlists, this would be 24/7 news. But I bet its all about sex.

True, and Hillary took a justly earned bruising from it during the primary. Still, Trump did solicit donations from foreign nationals, which is very illegal, no matter what. Our campaign finance system to screwed to high hell though, so Trump and Hillary can keep on skirting the rules and getting away with it.
 
Not sure I can agree with that. I would never even consider trying to influence another countries elections. Why is it morally right for them to do it to us?

How many countries did the United States interfere with internally during the Cold War, again? What's good for the goose...

Evidently you are a conservative (evinced by your prattling on about Democratic hypocrisy regarding big money in politics whilst ignoring Trump's hypocrisy regarding China). May I presume then that you concur with the Supreme Court decision in Citizen's United, that money is the same as speech?

If so, then you have no grounds for denying to anyone their freedom of speech, regardless of their nationality. If money is speech, then a foreigner has as much right to speak through a monetary donation as he does to opine about an American election on a messageboard or on Twitter.
 
I'll add that it ought to be on a reciprocal basis - only nations that permit foreign investment in their elections ought to be permitted to invest in ours.
 
You apparently needn't be bothered with reading what I wrote.

To your statements, I'm not sure if it's illegal. ...

As for whether or not it's illegal, that's extremely contingent upon what "fundraising" means. ...
I'm not sure if that is illegal. ...

I was not arguing with you. I read what you said. I was making a statement based on what I quoted above. I also gave the link to the FEC web page and a link to the FEC flyer that both lay out that it's in fact illegal in the post you originally quoted.

Also, prior to me responding to you, I read in this thread where some idiot(s) related to the Trump campaign had also appeared to break the same law, hence my adding in my reply to you that it was illegal regardless of who did such an act.

Again, I wasn't trying to argue with you, I was just making a statement that I had already previously established with linked facts.
 
It wasn't "some idiots related to the Trump campaign"; it was his financial director.
 
I doubt it is illegal since it isn't the foreigners' money. Seems very unethical, though. But what in this election isn't?
 
I dont know if this is legal or not, but it sure shows the hypocrasy of the democrats in regards to campaign financing. They dont actually care about big money in politics, so long as they dont get caught.

AS is normally the case with the revelations from wikileaks from the Podesta emails, this kinda falls apart as soon as you actually read it. It does not talk about raising foreign money, it is talking about bundlers who lobby for foreign interests. SO these are Americans who are registered with FARA. Most lobby for both domestic and foreign entities. This is perfectly legal. To further highlight the absurdity of the OP, let's look at the first names listed in the emails:

Tony Podesta: He is from Chicago and American.
Ben Barnes: Born in Texas and was even a Texas lieutenant governor.
John Merrigan: Can't find his birthplace, but sure enough, he is American.

You might see a pattern forming here. This is not illegal, immoral, or otherwise improper. Lobbyists tend to represent a variety of clients. Some of those clients are foreign. This does not in any way mean they cannot raise money, or donate to political causes.
 
It wasn't "some idiots related to the Trump campaign"; it was his financial director.

Then it was some idiot related to the Trump campaign. In fact, calling him an idiot is even more apropos because the finance director for a major party's nominee for POTUS should know the federal law, and not break it.
 
AS is normally the case with the revelations from wikileaks from the Podesta emails, this kinda falls apart as soon as you actually read it. It does not talk about raising foreign money, it is talking about bundlers who lobby for foreign interests. SO these are Americans who are registered with FARA. Most lobby for both domestic and foreign entities. This is perfectly legal. To further highlight the absurdity of the OP, let's look at the first names listed in the emails:

Tony Podesta: He is from Chicago and American.
Ben Barnes: Born in Texas and was even a Texas lieutenant governor.
John Merrigan: Can't find his birthplace, but sure enough, he is American.

You might see a pattern forming here. This is not illegal, immoral, or otherwise improper. Lobbyists tend to represent a variety of clients. Some of those clients are foreign. This does not in any way mean they cannot raise money, or donate to political causes.

Redress, read the information in the two links I put in the second post in this thread. Especially the definitions of terms like what constitutes a "foreign national" and other key terms. You can't wash the money by passing through a US citizen or US organization, not to say that was your implication.
 
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