Washington Post Quotes Matthew Sanderson on Foreign Nationals Contributing to U.S. Campaigns

A letter, circulated to dozens of wealthy entrepreneurs in China last week, looked official. Topped with the insignia of a real Republican committee raising money for the party and President Trump’s reelection campaign, it purported to offer a handshake and a one-on-one photo with the president for $100,000 — a “VVIP” trip “to be remembered for a lifetime.”

The invitation, which Republican Party officials say they had nothing to do with, was not the only such offer. At least two other China-based companies circulated similar solicitations in the past week, offering access to Trump at an official fundraiser in Dallas on May 31, and charging two or three times the price of a ticket.

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Matthew Sanderson, who served as a campaign finance lawyer for the 2008 McCain-Palin campaign, said claims such as those in the Chinese invitations might get the attention of authorities. “What a regulator or prosecutor would be interested in is whether this is essentially the foreign national making a donation through a U.S. person,” he said.

“That’s a problem both because foreign nationals are prohibited from making campaign contributions and because the campaign finance disclosure reports are supposed to disclose the ultimate source of funds,” Sanderson added.

Mr. Sanderson is also a Member of Caplin & Drysdale’s Political Law Group in Washington, D.C.

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Excerpt taken from the article "Invitations Offer Wealthy Chinese Access to President Trump at Fundraiser" by Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Anu Narayanswamy, Emily Rauhala and Simon Denyer for The Washington Post.