Washington, DC — A new report today revealed that the Trump campaign may have coordinated with Russian sources on political contributions to the Trump campaign or Republican party.
NBC News: Manafort Notes From Russian Meet Refer to Political Contributions
While it is illegal for foreigners to donate to American elections, loopholes in our campaign finance system provide the potential for foreign countries to spend unlimited money in secret to influence our elections.
As ECU has warned, foreign governments and foreign-controlled companies could interfere in our elections by setting up a shell company through an LLC. The LLC could then contribute to a Super PAC or dark money group, the latter which would fully hide even the identity of the shell company. Other options are for foreign companies to set up a U.S. subsidiary which can then spend freely.
Earlier this summer, the Center for American Progress released a memo detailing examples of how foreign powers have manipulated loopholes in our campaign finance system. ECU has called on Congress to pass a number of bills to close these loopholes including, the By the People reform package, the Get Foreign Money Out of U.S. Elections Act and the 2017 DISCLOSE Act.