Facing an investigation by both the FBI and the Justice Department regarding the legality of donations to his 2013 gubernatorial campaign, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says the donations in question are legal.
The Washington Post reported McAuliffe spent Tuesday traveling the state and declaring himself innocent of any potential wrongdoing that may have taken place during his 2013 campaign.
“As you can see today, I’m full out in force, and will continue to be full out in force,” McAuliffe said in Alexandria, according to a Reuters video. “Investigations happen. No one’s alleged any wrongdoing on my part.”
The investigation dates back to at least 2015 and questions whether $120,000 in campaign donations from Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang were legal.
Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, foreign nationals are prohibited from donating to federal, state or local elections.
University Law Prof. Michael Gilbert said this law is in place so that elections are only decided by citizens of the United States.
“I think that the idea is pretty simple — you don’t want foreign citizens tampering with, influencing, affecting our elections,” Gilbert said. “Candidates should be supported by our citizens, and we don’t want meddling from abroad.”
Gilbert also said at this point it’s too hard to say how the investigation might turn out.
If Wang holds U.S. permanent resident status through a green card, then he would be eligible to make legal donations to McAuliffe’s campaign, according to Federal Election Commission regulations.
“If he in fact received a contribution from a foreign national, that’s a violation of federal law, but there is — as I understand it — an exception for foreign nationals with green cards,” Gilbert said.
McAuliffe said he relied on two law firms who vetted Wang’s check, and is 100 percent certain that the donation was a legal action.
“They said he had a green card from 2007 — so the contribution came in, and they have unequivocally said that he was entitled to write a check,” McAuliffe said in the Reuters video.
McAuliffe’s attorney, Marc Elias, said the CNN article that first reported on the investigation May 23 could not be confirmed.
“Neither the governor nor his former campaign has knowledge of this matter, but as reported, contributions to the campaign from Mr. Wang were completely lawful,” Elias said in an email statement. “The governor will certainly cooperate with the government if he is contacted about it.”
In 2014, former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was convicted of corruption charges, making McAuliffe the second consecutive Virginia governor to be investigated by federal authorities.
Gilbert said he does not believe the investigations are indicative of a trend of corruption.
“Even if it turns out that they both broke the law, two doesn’t quite make a pattern,” Gilbert said. “So that doesn’t mean that there’s something fundamentally wrong and deeply corrupt about Virginia politics.”
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