Considering his delivered-in-front-of-a-garbage-pile economy speech, Donald Trump seems to know everything there is to know about money. Sure he’s had a few issues with his tax returns, and his campaign’s ability to raise money (outside of his much-boasted personal wealth) is negligible compared to presidential candidates who are no longer in the spotlight. Yet this is the Donald we’re talking about, the famous New York real estate mogul who started The Apprentice and whose name adorns buildings all over the world. So why are his staffers sending email blasts to European and Australian politicians asking for illegal campaign contributions?
Per Talking Points Memo, several European and Australian politicians have reported receiving targeted emails signed by Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr. Scottish MP Natalie McGarry first drew attention to the matter when she tweeted screen shots of the emails and her response on Monday. “Why you think it appropriate to write emails to U.K. parliamentarians with a begging bowl for your father’s repugnant campaign is completely beyond me,” she wrote to Trump Jr.
https://twitter.com/NatalieMcgarry/status/747559880723161090
https://twitter.com/NatalieMcgarry/status/745790016891289602
McGarry wasn’t the only MP member to receive an email from the Trump campaign. According to the Scotsman, The first email of the two emails posted by McGarry were “received by many MPs last week,” before the Brexit. Members of the Scottish National Party and several English MPs were also on whatever list(s) the Trump campaign had acquired, as they all received targeted emails from the American presidential candidate.
Yet Scottish and British figures immediately associated with the Brexit vote weren’t the only politicos contacted by Trump’s email blast. Several members of Iceland and Australia’s respective parliaments received fundraising requests as well. Per Iceland Monitor, “at least three prominent Icelandic politicians have received an email from U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump asking for money.” These include Left-Green Alliance leader Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Independence Party member Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson.
As for Australia, Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall received confirmation from MP Tim Watts.
@PatrickRuffini pic.twitter.com/wpV348Hws7
— Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) June 29, 2016
It goes without saying that campaign finance laws in the United States ban any and all political contributions from foreign nationals. Not just donations freely offered by said nationals, but solicited funds as well. Despite the apparent egregious nature of these violations, however, Sunlight Foundation policy analyst Richard Skinner told Talking Points Memo it was highly “unlikely” Trump or his campaign would face any legal action. Why? Because Distributed emails like these are usually sent out to all entries on purchased lists, and there’s a chance the campaign didn’t purposefully target European and Australian dignitaries.
(Via Talking Points Memo)