“The Governor will certainly cooperate with the government if he is contacted about it”, said attorney for the McAuliffe campaign Marc Elias.
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“As a matter of policy, the department generally neither confirms nor denies whether a matter is under investigation”, said Peter Carr, a spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department.
It is illegal for any campaign for office to accept donations from a foreign entity or national.
The official said the investigation has been ongoing for some time and there was no indication that it was close to concluding. According to CNN, among the McAuliffe donations that drew the interest of investigators was $120,000 from a Chinese businessman, Wang Wenliang, through his US businesses.
Even if federal investigators find no wrong doing in relation to the reported campaign donation made by a Chinese billionaire to Governor Terry McAuliffe, the damage may already be done, political experts said.
On May 23, CNN reported that there had been a federal probe into McAuliffe’s campaign contributions for over a year.
The Justice Department, overseen by President Obama, has refused to comment on the investigation. The network noted that “Wang was previously delegate to China’s National People’s Congress, the country’s ceremonial legislature”. I didn’t bring him into the Clinton foundation.
Attorney James W. Cooper said Department of Justice officials told him have been looking into McAuliffe’s foreign sources of income before he became governor and whether he violated the law by lobbying the USA government on behalf of foreign governments.
Contributions by foreign nationals are barred, but a spokesperson for Wang says he has permanent United States resident status and that his contributions were legal.
Wang is a notable contributor to US causes.
News of the McAuliffe probe comes one day after he held a high-dollar fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. “They’re entitled to do an investigation”.
He added, “So, in this case, you have Mr. Wang, who has given the donations to Terry McAuliffe’s campaign, also given 2 million to the Clinton Foundation. There are more than 100 donors that donated both to the Clinton Foundation as well as your campaign?”
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McAuliffe’s predecessor in the governor’s mansion, Republican Bob McDonnell, was convicted on federal corruption charges but has appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.
