A great big money party': Foreign efforts to influence Trump keep piling up
Donald Trump pledged to “drain the swamp” of money and influence in Washington. But sludge has kept pouring in — and some of it is coming through Trump-world from foreigners who are trying to buy sway with the president and his advisers.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, were arrested on Thursday and charged with trying to aid Ukrainian and Russian foreign nationals by secretly directing $325,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC. And they are only the latest in a string of money-men and women connected to Trump — including possible Middle Eastern donors to Trump’s inaugural committee, Mar-a-Lago neighbor Cindy Yang, GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy and imprisoned former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort — who have come under scrutiny since 2016 over funneling foreign money into American politics.
The string of allegations reveal gaping holes in America’s defenses against foreign influence in its politics and elections, stretching far beyond the inadequate cybersecurity that Russian hackers exploited in 2016. These weaknesses are codified in U.S. campaign finance law, which legislators have refused to update in recent years despite persistent warnings from watchdogs and regulators about their vulnerability to foreign abuse.
“This is a very dangerous trend,” said Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration, who likened American elections to a blowout college party — and American laws to the cavalier bouncers a boisterous fraternity might employ.
“We have a great big money party and foreigners are going to want to participate,” Painter continued. “It’s like having a big party on a college campus but saying students under 21 can’t go.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/a-great-big-money-party-foreign-efforts-to-influence-trump-keep-piling-up/ar-AAIANFD?ocid=st2
