By SRH
The British Labour Party of soliciting money from foreign sources and meddling in the 2024 presidential race following allegations that party members went to the US to assist Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign.
Foreign nationals cannot “directly or indirectly” make “contributions, donations, expenditures (including independent expenditures) and disbursements… in connection with any federal, state, or local election” under federal law.
In law, a “foreign national” is a non-citizen who does not have lawful permanent residency in the US or a foreign principal such a “foreign government or political party.”
Trump’s lawyers say foreign “contributions” violate US campaign finance regulations.
The Trump team claims that “the limited number of’spots’ supports a reasonable inference that the Labour Party is financially supporting this effort.”
If people were encouraged to volunteer and arrange their own homes, there would be no reason to cap the remaining “spots.”
The marketing says the 10 slot number “suggests scarcity, which in turn suggests an expenditure of resources.”
The GOP candidate’s lawyers urged a “immediate investigation” of Labour’s “blatant foreign interference” in the election and Harris’s campaign acceptance of it.
It concludes that the Federal Election Commission must open a MUR, find reason to believe, and investigate swiftly to defend our democracy from illicit foreign influence.
The FT says that Starmer told journalists on the way to the Commonwealth conference in Samoa that Labour members “have gone over [to the US] pretty much every election”.
“They’re doing it as volunteers in their spare time.”
According to the BBC, Labour foreign affairs committee head Emily Thornberry questioned the campaigners’ efforts:
I don’t think British politicians teaching Americans how to vote helps.
“In two weeks, Americans will once again reject the oppression of big government that we rejected in 1776,” said Trump campaign co-chair Susie Wiles.
Wiles said Harris’s campaign was “flailing” and “seeking foreign influence to boost its radical message”.
Nigel Farage, the UK Reform party leader and Trump supporter, also commented on X:
“This is Labour party election interference, and stupid if Trump wins. Who pays for everything?
Monday’s Trump campaign letter to the FEC referenced the American Revolution: “When representatives of the British government previously sought to go door-to-door in America, it did not end well for them.”
