The Republican National Committee filed a 49-page complaint against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign Monday, alleging Obama had knowingly and excessively accepted contributions from foreign nationals.
RNC General Counsel Sean Carincross said, “We see this as a wide-scale problem and it appears the Obama campaign may be in substantial noncompliance with federal campaign finance laws.”
Federal election law expressly prohibits political candidates from accepting any money from foreign sources.
The RNC is specifically questioning Obama’s quality controls for low-dollar contributions made over the internet, the sale of Obama paraphernalia to foreigners over the internet by the Obama campaign and pro-Obama fundraisers held in Nigeria.
Vanguard, a Nigeria-based newspaper reported on August 20th that “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission yesterday said it confiscated N74 million raised by the controversial ‘Obama for Africa’ Campaign, led by the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mrs. Ndi Okereke-Onyuike. The controversial group, in a widely publicized fund raiser reportedly realized about N100 million to aid the campaign of the US Democratic Party presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama.”
Earlier this year, right-wing blogger Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugged found two brothers in the Gaza Strip had purchased $33,000 worth of Obama T-shirts through the Obama for America website. It counted as an illegal campaign contribution. The FEC investigated and ordered Obama for America to return the contributions, although to this day Obama still owes the brothers $891.11.
The RNC also stated in their complaint “FEC reports and media accounts highlight, that OFA [Obama for America] repeatedly accepts excessive contributions from individuals, including those with obviously fictitious names.” A recent Newsweek article by Michael Isikoff detailed donations made from a “Good Will” who listed his employer as “Loving” and his address as “You.” The address “Good Will” listed was for a Goodwill Industries corporation.
The sources of more than half of Obama’s record-shattering $426 million donations are not disclosed, since the are made in amounts of $200 or less and do not trigger mandatory campaign finance disclosure laws. Unlike the McCain campaign, Obama for America has not willingly made that information available.
The right-leaning website Newsmax.com found more than 1,000 entries for Obama’s “Good Will” donor, most of them in increments of $25 each for a total of $17,375. Other questionable donations came from a “Doodad Pro” who supposedly donated to the Obama campaign 786 separate times, mostly in $25 increments. Like “Good Will” the Doodad Pro donor also listed his employer as “Loving” and his profession as “You.”
The RNC complaint contained several articles backing their allegations. Most of them, excluding Newsweek and Vanguard, were from right-leaning sources such as American Spectator, Human Events, National Review and Newsmax.