Romney Broke The Law By Raising Money From Foreign Donors. Should He Be Disqualified?
August 14, 2012
Is Romney ineligible to become the next President of the United States of America? It’s a very real possibility, especially since he threw a few fundraisers during his disastrous little overseas meet n’ greet a few weeks ago. These fundraisers were extremely private, with no journalists present (with a single exception, who did not have access to the donors), no filming or photography allowed, no diligence done, and no donor IDs checked. If money changed hands at these rich shin-digs (which is quite probable, being fundraisers and all), Romney could be in a lot of trouble.
But why? Let’s ask the Supreme Court and their 9-0 decision in Bluman v. Federal Election Commission:
(a) Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for —
(1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make —
(A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election;
(B) a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or
(C) an expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication (within the meaning of section 434(f)(3) of this title); or
(2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph
(A) or (B) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national.
2 U.S.C. § 441e(a).[fn2] The statute continues to define “foreign national” to include all foreign citizens except those who have been admitted as lawful permanent residents. Id. § 441e(b).
Huh. Very interesting, Supreme Court, thank you.
Romney, already having to evade the demands of the American people to see his tax returns, will now have to prove that he hasn’t accepted foreign money to fund his campaign. Considering no records were apparently kept, that could prove difficult. If he has taken foreign money, then he is ineligible for the CoChief position, but very eligible for a cozy jail cell in some white-collar prison.
As Veterans Today points out:
If you go outside the US: If you stay inside the US, if your contributor is living in the US but not a citizen, any money you get can mean years in jail.
Romney went the whole way, personally campaigning outside the US, soliciting foreign citizens, and humiliating himself and his country with his ignorance and flagrant attempts to trade illegal cash for promises of illegal war. One could hardly break more laws if one wanted.
“Romney has raised millions in foreign cash at fundraising event across Israel and London, those that we know of so far. One table alone gave him a million in cash. None was from American citizens. Fewer than 10% of Romney’s contributors in Israel are estimated to be “dual citizens.” Others may have just flown the money in.”
So what do you think? Is Romney in trouble? Or will he bury this just like he did his tax returns?