In the last few years, Hillary Clinton raised over 100 million dollars from foreign governments and their officials, mostly from Middle Eastern countries where gays are executed and women have no rights. The story has been mentioned in the mainstream media mostly in passing. Today, however, AP is pushing a story about how Donald Trump is asking politicians in the UK for campaign contributions. I saw the headline and decided to investigate because it seemed so unlikely. I found out that what had happened is that Trump's campaign finance team sent emails to thousands or millions of people on various fund raising lists. Some of the people who received the emails turned out to be British members of parliament. None contributed (no surprise there -- such contributions would be illegal.) One member of parliament asked the Speaker of the House of Commons to see if the Trump fund raising emails could be blocked. That's the story. That's the ENTIRE story.
Now let's consider the import of this story about Trump. There's nothing illegal about sending an email seeking a campaign contribution. That's something I surely know. I get multiple emails every week asking for campaign cash. I also get letters and phone calls. The solicitations come from all sorts of candidates and groups. Last week, I answered calls from the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Republican counterpart in the House, the Democrat National Committee, the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Connecticut Republican Party, as well as three groups that I think were PACs. In the mail, we got letters seeking cash that came from senatorial candidates of both parties in five different states (but not my home state of Connecticut.) We also got requests for money from Congressional candidates in Florida and New Jersey and I had never even heard their names. Yesterday, I got an email from Carly Fiorina who is still asking for money. I agree with the MPs, it's an annoyance. It is, however, perfectly legal.
It would be illegal for Trump to take campaign cash from foreigners should they decide to contribute. He hasn't done that, however. It was illegal for Hillary to take cash from foreigners if it was for her campaign or for selling influence at the State Department, etc. So what does the mainstream media cover? The answer is no surprise, but it is still disgusting.
Now let's consider the import of this story about Trump. There's nothing illegal about sending an email seeking a campaign contribution. That's something I surely know. I get multiple emails every week asking for campaign cash. I also get letters and phone calls. The solicitations come from all sorts of candidates and groups. Last week, I answered calls from the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Republican counterpart in the House, the Democrat National Committee, the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Connecticut Republican Party, as well as three groups that I think were PACs. In the mail, we got letters seeking cash that came from senatorial candidates of both parties in five different states (but not my home state of Connecticut.) We also got requests for money from Congressional candidates in Florida and New Jersey and I had never even heard their names. Yesterday, I got an email from Carly Fiorina who is still asking for money. I agree with the MPs, it's an annoyance. It is, however, perfectly legal.
It would be illegal for Trump to take campaign cash from foreigners should they decide to contribute. He hasn't done that, however. It was illegal for Hillary to take cash from foreigners if it was for her campaign or for selling influence at the State Department, etc. So what does the mainstream media cover? The answer is no surprise, but it is still disgusting.
No comments:
Post a Comment