The New York Post reported that the campaign of socialist and likely the next mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, took thousands of illegal donations.
Only American citizens can donate to PACs and political campaigns.
The $13,000 in donations include his mother-in-law in Dubai:
At least 170 of the nearly 54,000 contributions to the leading Democratic candidate’s campaign came from donors with addresses outside the United States, an examination of NYC Campaign Finance Board records found.Only US citizens or permanent legal residents are allowed to contribute to political campaigns and political action committees under federal, state and city law, and candidates are expected to return any of the illegal donations. Violators who knowingly accept foreign donations could face hefty fines and imprisonment.But so far, the campaign has failed to return 88 of the foreign donations worth a total of $7,190, records showed.Mamdani’s campaign has brought in $4 million in private donations, scored another $12.7 million in public matching funds, and with less than a month to go before election day, has nearly $6.1 million in hand.
Mamdani’s campaign promised to return any donations not in compliance with campaign financial laws.
You would think Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) would be all over this, considering his obsession with dark money.
Apparently, Mamdani returned the money from his new mother-in-law.
Among the biggest donors was James Furlaud, an environmental scientist at Australia’s University of Tasmania, who pledged $2,100 to the campaign. Furlaud studies the effects of climate change on forests and how it could lead to fires, according to his published academic work. He did not return a request for comment.Ada Diaz Ahmed, who is described as a Dubai-based investor, donated $2,100 to the campaign in September, records show.Jun-Dai Bates Kobashigawa, a software developer who lives in Montreal, Canada, donated $250 to the campaign in July. Kobashigawa, who works for GoDaddy, grew up in San Francisco, and attended Bard College in Dutchess County. He did not return a request for comment.Ugur Macit, who lives in the town of Muhlheim am Main in Germany, also donated $250 to the Mamdani campaign in August. Macit is a software engineer who studied computer science at the University of Dusseldorf, according to public records. He could not be reached for comment.Ahmed Enbya, a physician in Calgary, Canada, donated $100 to the campaign in September, filings show. He could not be reached for comment.
Remember, a US citizen overseas can donate to campaigns and PACs.
I doubt that returning the money will have any impact on Mamdani’s campaign. He will likely succeed and take down NYC with his socialist ways.
The law is the law. Why hasn’t anyone returned the rest of the money? How did his mother-in-law’s donation slip through? I highly doubt she kept silent about it from him.
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