A campaign finance watchdog has filed two criminal referrals against Zohran Mamdani, the leading candidate for mayor of New York City. They accused the leftist socialist of taking illicit donations from overseas contributors.
The Coolidge Reagan Foundation sent the recommendations to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office on Tuesday. They say that Mamdani may have broken the Federal Election Campaign Act and the New York Election Code.
The recommendations were made after The Post reported earlier this month that Mamdani’s campaign got about $13,000 in donations from at least 170 people who live outside the US, including one from his mother-in-law in Dubai.
“These are not isolated incidents or clerical errors,” Dan Backer, a national campaign finance expert and president of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, said in a statement.
“This was a sustained pattern of foreign money flowing into a New York City mayoral race which is a clear violation of both federal law and New York City campaign finance rules,” Backer added. “Mamdani’s campaign was on notice for months that it was accepting illegal foreign contributions, and yet it did nothing meaningful to stop it.”
The Coolidge Reagan Foundation has already filed complaints against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and the Democratic National Committee.
They told Bragg and the DOJ to look into and arrest Mamdani for the campaign cash that may have come from Australia, Turkey, France, Canada, Germany, and other countries.
The group said that Mamdani’s campaign had shown a “systematic failure to comply” with the rules about campaign money.
The Federal Election Campaign Act says that it is against the law to “accept or receive” donations from people who are not US citizens in any federal, state, or local election.
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People who knowingly accept donations from other countries could face big fines and jail time.
“The law is crystal clear that foreign nationals may not participate in American elections, and that includes making contributions,” Backer continued. “Yet Mamdani’s campaign repeatedly accepted donations from individuals abroad, some even tied to regions and individuals openly sympathetic to hostile actors.”
“Whether through negligence or intent, this conduct undermines the integrity of the democratic process.”
Mamdani’s campaign for mayor of New York City sent back about $9,000 in donations from people outside the US.
Federal law says that campaigns for federal office can’t take money from people outside the US. Candidates who get money from people outside the US must give it back, and they could face huge fines and even jail time if they know they are getting money from foreigners.
The National News Desk said earlier this month that Mamdani’s campaign had supposedly gotten $13,000 in donations from 170 people living outside the US. Mamdani’s team argued that $4,000 of the foreign funds came from Americans residing abroad, which made those donations legitimate.
The New York City Campaign Finance Board says that between September 8 and October 20, Mamdani’s campaign got back almost $4,000 from 67 donors from outside the US.
This included a $2,100 donation from Dubai-based investor Ada Diaz Ahmed. The campaign has still been getting donations from people outside the US. In October, three people from the UK, Australia, and Germany gave $130.
Campaign Finance Board spokesman Daniel Kurzyna said these donations should have been flagged by the city.
“If the city’s campaign finance portal allowed foreign donations to be processed, that is a system issue the Campaign Finance Board must address, and any improper contributions will be returned,” CFB spokesman Daniel Kurzyna said in a statement to the media.
Mamdani’s team and campaign have stated they are looking into the matter and will comply with all laws.
