Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign must pay a $14,500 fine for illegally receiving foreign contributions after it accepted assistance from a group of Australian campaign volunteers that were backed by the Australian Labor Party.
“During the course of the campaign thousands and thousands of young people from every state and many other countries volunteered,” Sanders political team said in a statement to local television station WMUR. “Among them were seven Australian young people who were receiving a modest stipend and airfare from the Australian Labor Party so they could learn about American politics.”
The independent Vermont senator added that those who managed campaign volunteers did not think the stipend would prohibit the students from serving as volunteers.
The fine was paid to the Federal Election Commission, which had responded to a complaint, and Sanders said the fine was paid in order to avoid a “long and expensive fight.” However, he said the campaign did not “agree that it broke any rules.”
Those Australians who are at the center of the controversy worked on Sanders’ campaign in New Hampshire during the presidential primary and received a total of $24,422 to for airfare and stipends. The payments were considered foreign contributions, which violates U.S. law.
