Posted on 03/01/2018 2:00:27 PM PST by GreyHoundSailor
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign will pay $14,500 as part of an agreement with the Federal Election Commission over allegations that the campaign wrongfully accepted in-kind donations from an Australian political party.
The complaint centered on a group of seven Australians who volunteered for the Vermont independent’s 2016 presidential bid.
The Australian Labor Party paid a total of $24,422 for the volunteers’ flights and stipends, according to the FEC document, provided by the Sanders campaign.
The Sanders campaign did not believe at the time that the money the individuals received from the Australian party would disqualify them from volunteering, according to the campaign.
However, the FEC determined that the money the party paid for the volunteers’ flights and stipend constituted an in-kind donation prohibited by federal campaign regulations and a 1971 law.
The Sanders campaign did not admit fault as part of the agreement, which according to the complaint was reached “solely for the purpose of settling this matter expeditiously and to avoid the expense of litigation.”
Sanders referred comment about the agreement to his longtime campaign aide, Jeff Weaver.
“It would have been far more expensive to fight it than to just deal” with the case, Weaver said Wednesday.
The FEC also reached an agreement with the Australian Labor Party, under which the party will pay a $14,500 penalty, according to the Guardian.
According to the FEC document, the volunteers participated in “hands-on activity typical of volunteers,” including canvassing and planning events.
The Sanders campaign argued that the campaign did not ask the Australian party to send the volunteers, nor to cover their expenses. They also argued that though some campaign staff members knew that the Australians received stipends, they “mistakenly believed that the services performed by the ALP delegates constituted exempt volunteer activity,” according to the conciliation document.
Weaver, who helped negotiate the agreement with the FEC, said he saw the complaint about the Australian volunteers as politically motivated.
“It clearly was an attempt to cause trouble for our campaign,” Weaver said.
Asked about the finding in the context of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, Weaver said the allegations about the Sanders campaign are “certainly not really a moral equivalency in my view.”
The complaint was brought by Republican William O’Brien, former speaker of the New Hampshire House, according to the New Hampshire television station WMUR. O’Brien did not respond to an email requesting comment late Wednesday afternoon.
O’Brien filed the complaint with the FEC in 2016 after the release of videos filmed by the conservative group Project Veritas, according to WMUR. The videos purported to show Australian campaign volunteers tearing down Trump campaign signs.
Look into what Captain Midnight got from foreign entities.
The Australians fought hard against Trump in the election.. No special counsel for that deal.
Hillary is laughing all the way to the bank.
No kidding. The woman has it on auto deposit...
So ... the Australian collusion episode has ended?
Where are the indictments of the Australians?
Australians for Bernie and EU politicians for Hillary (http://time.com/4429904/dnc-hillary-clinton-italian-europe/).
Slaps on the wrist all around.
“The Australians fought hard against Trump in the election.. No special counsel for that deal.”
The GAZANS (VIA Credit Card Donations)fought hard for the OBUMSTER in an election.. No special counsel for that deal.
Bernie the hypocrite!
I mean, a political party paying activists to come to the U.S. and work for a candidate's presidential campaign to me sounds a lot more significant than Facebook posts.
Bringing Australians over here to campaign for Sanders goes along with the international socialist mindset.
What could possibly be wrong with bringing an all expenses paid group of foreigners over here to work for the election of a collectivist minded candidate who never had a job until he was elected mayor of Burlington, VT in his late 30’s?
Oh! But Bernie’s “from the working class.” How can you be from the working class if you’ve never done any work except to fleece the taxpayers?
I really think she will get away with it all. She’ll die a miserable old hag but it will be in her own bed. I hope I’m wrong.
The first time I saw Sanders, I was a student at the University of Vermont. Honestly thought he was going door-to-door looking for bottles and cans; dirty, torn jeans, wild hair. Didn’t surprise me he was kicked out of a commune because he didn’t want to work. He resonates well with the crowd always demanding something for free, and VT is full of them.
You know, I do a check of myself if I’m acting like the Left is against Trump, only me against the Clinton. I have to say, it appears to me that irregularities with here server and the Clinton Foundation, that she has clearly broken the law.
It’s on the record with her own admissions in eMails and other things. Foreign governments were donating to her foundation, and I think funds were diverted. Those funds weren’t just going to charities.
As for her server, she broke the national security laws put in place to avoid this type of situation. She did it blatantly with top secret information.
What’s so hard to figure out here.
We know she set up the server.
We know she had top secret information on it.
We know it was forwarded to Huma Abaden’s laptop, where she and her husband could browse it at will.
Is this true or isn’t it? There have been a lot of lies floating around if it isn’t.
Where is Sessions? Why is he still drawing a paycheck?
I understand and couldn’t agree more. It is disgusting beyond words.
I didn’t mention it before but I continue to have some hope.
What is also extremely disturbing is that so many of her supporters don’t see how filthy she is and those that do know, don’t care.
That show is awesome.
When will they get to Hillary?
I lived in Burlington for 20 years and still live in the Champlain valley. I ‘m very familiar with what your saying.
Vermont loaded with well-to-do leftist who don’t have the first clue. I also attended UVM which itself is a haven for leftists and promotes them. I have have never given them a dime and never will. I tell them why, too.
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