Sources familiar with the investigation confirmed to Fox News on Monday that investigators are probing whether the governor’s 2013 campaign accepted illegal contributions.
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McAuliffe was a board member of the Clinton Global Initiation, a charity set up by former President Bill Clinton.
“This has nothing to do with Clinton Foundation”, he said at the State Arboretum of Virginia.
Spokespeople for the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment.
The governor was swarmed by reporters and fielded questions at multiple events previously scheduled for Tuesday morning.
McAuliffe, who chaired Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008, also raised money for her race for a Senate seat in NY, even pledging in 1999 to put up $1.35 million in cash to secure a mortgage on a NY home as she geared up for the race.
The connection McAuliffe has with the Clinton machine can not be overstated. “I don’t think it will affect Hillary Clinton at all, I don’t think it will affect me at all”.
The FBI is looking into donations to his 2013 campaign for governor and one in particular from an influential Chinese businessman who lives in the United States but is not a citizen. He was formerly a delegate to China’s legislative body, the National People’s Congress. According to The Wall Street Journal, Wang donated $2 million to the Clinton Foundation. He also has been a prolific donor to other causes, including to New York University, Harvard and environmental issues in Florida.
Only time will tell if McAuliffe’s mysterious bundler will join the growing list of social climbers whose fundraising abilities shape and form their political careers only to wind up in prison for their over-ambition. Yet, Wang may be exonerated by the fact he has permanent resident status in the U.S. “So, it fits this pattern that the FBI’s investigating, and I think Mr. Wang is an important piece of it”.
The former governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, was convicted in 2014 of accepting more than $165,000 in gifts and loans from a wealthy businessman in exchange for promoting a dietary supplement. The Supreme Court is weighing an appeal of the conviction.
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McAuliffe pressured government officials to overlook visa applications from Chinese investors that were denied due to national security fears, prompting an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.
