Klobuchar, Senators Urge the FEC to Examine the Role of Foreign Political Spending in U.S. Elections
Press Release
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, led a group of senators in urging the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to reconsider its decision to decline to "launch [a] rulemaking to ensure that U.S. political spending is free from foreign influence." Recently, during Congressional hearings related to foreign interference in the 2016 election, current and former intelligence officials and experts repeatedly stated that it is very likely that a foreign adversary will attempt to influence a future election. In a letter to Commissioners Walther, Hunter, Goodman, Peterson, and Weintraub, Klobuchar and Senate Democrats expressed deep concern about loopholes in our campaign finance disclosure laws that could be exploited by foreign nationals and foreign nations.
"The FEC was created to facilitate campaign finance disclosure and enforce the limits and prohibitions on political spending. Our election laws expressly prohibit foreign nationals "from contributing, donating or spending funds in connection with any federal, state, or local election in the United States, either directly or indirectly.' Taking action to ensure that U.S. elections are free of foreign money is a critical part of the FEC's responsibility," the senators wrote. "Unfortunately, there are current loopholes that could be exploited by foreign interests to influence our elections. Most of our campaign finance law was written prior to Citizens United and did not anticipate corporate political spending. Therefore, the current law and regulations do not provide adequate transparency to prevent foreign donations to campaigns."
The senators continued, "The integrity of our democracy is at risk. Again, we ask you to reconsider this critical rulemaking to examine the loopholes in our campaign finance disclosure laws that could be exploited by foreign nationals and foreign nations."
Source