A pro-Jeb Bush super PAC got the biggest fine in US history for foreign interference in an election by taking millions of dollars in illegal contributions from the Chinese.

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According to the Campaign Legal Center:

A record fine was handed down by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) following an August 2016 complaint by Campaign Legal Center (CLC), concluding an investigation that found a Chinese-owned corporation and pro-Jeb Bush super PAC both broke the federal law that guards American elections against foreign interference.

American Pacific International Capital, Inc. (APIC) was fined $550,000 for violating the foreign national contribution ban, and the pro-Jeb Bush super PAC “Right to Rise” was fined $390,000 for soliciting a foreign national contribution. CLC’s complaint cites the bombshell report by The Intercept in August 2016 that laid out smoking-gun evidence of the violation: the president of the Chinese-owned, California-based corporation admitted that he directed the corporation’s contributions, which totaled $1.3 million.

The Republican Party Is For Sale To Foreign Governments

Trump rightly gets all of the attention, because of his brazen behavior with Russia, Saudi Arabia, and likely many other foreign governments, but Trump wasn’t the only one in his party out there fishing for illegal foreign dollars.

Jeb Bush supporters were happy to take money from China.

“Today’s action is a rare and remarkable step by the FEC, and a reminder that safeguarding our elections against foreign interference is in America’s vital national security interests,” said Trevor Potter, president of CLC, and a former Republican Chairman of the FEC. “This illegal $1.3 million contribution is unmistakable proof that Citizens United opened the floodgates to foreign money in the U.S., and it is surely the tip of the iceberg. The fact that the FEC, which so often deadlocks and therefore fails to act in violations, could agree on this one highlights the very real danger this sort of activity poses to our democracy.”

The Citizens United decision has opened the floodgates and made it nearly impossible to follow all of the money. Right to Rise wasn’t the only one taking illegal money. They’re the ones who got caught.

Overturning Citizens United is a national security issue, as the future of our democracy depends on shutting the doors to foreign influence.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association