A super PAC that supported the 2016 presidential campaign of Jeb Bush was slapped with a hefty fine for taking $1.3 million from a Chinese-owned corporation, thus breaking a federal law prohibiting foreign influence in U.S. elections.
The Federal Election Commission fined Right to Rise $390,000 for soliciting a foreign contribution, while the Chinese company, American Pacific International Capital, Inc. was fined $550,000.
An investigation by the FEC began in August 2016 following a complaint by the Campaign Legal Center, which posted the settlement agreement announcing the penalties on Monday.
“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,” Trevor Potter, president of CLC and a former Republican chairman of the FEC, said in a statement. “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 settlement said the “respondents” said all contributions were made “with the good faith belief that they were permissible.” Furthermore, the FEC said it “did not find that the violations were knowing and willful.”
The CLC said this is the biggest FEC fine since the Citizens United v. FEC case, decided by the Supreme Court in 2010, that eased restrictions on election spending, and the third highest fine in FEC history.
