A campaign finance watchdog has filed two criminal referrals against Zohran Mamdani, the leading candidate for mayor of New York City. They accused the leftist socialist of taking illicit donations from overseas contributors.
The Coolidge Reagan Foundation sent the recommendations to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office on Tuesday. They say that Mamdani may have broken the Federal Election Campaign Act and the New York Election Code.
The recommendations were made after The Post reported earlier this month that Mamdani’s campaign got about $13,000 in donations from at least 170 people who live outside the US, including one from his mother-in-law in Dubai.
“These are not isolated incidents or clerical errors,” Dan Backer, a national campaign finance expert and president of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, said in a statement.
“This was a sustained pattern of foreign money flowing into a New York City mayoral race which is a clear violation of both federal law and New York City campaign finance rules,” Backer added. “Mamdani’s campaign was on notice for months that it was accepting illegal foreign contributions, and yet it did nothing meaningful to stop it.”
The Coolidge Reagan Foundation has already filed complaints against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and the Democratic National Committee.
They told Bragg and the DOJ to look into and arrest Mamdani for the campaign cash that may have come from Australia, Turkey, France, Canada, Germany, and other countries.
The group said that Mamdani’s campaign had shown a “systematic failure to comply” with the rules about campaign money.
The Federal Election Campaign Act says that it is against the law to “accept or receive” donations from people who are not US citizens in any federal, state, or local election.
People who knowingly accept donations from other countries could face big fines and jail time.
“The law is crystal clear that foreign nationals may not participate in American elections, and that includes making contributions,” Backer continued. “Yet Mamdani’s campaign repeatedly accepted donations from individuals abroad, some even tied to regions and individuals openly sympathetic to hostile actors.”
“Whether through negligence or intent, this conduct undermines the integrity of the democratic process.”
Mamdani’s campaign for mayor of New York City sent back about $9,000 in donations from people outside the US.
Federal law says that campaigns for federal office can’t take money from people outside the US. Candidates who get money from people outside the US must give it back, and they could face huge fines and even jail time if they know they are getting money from foreigners.
The National News Desk said earlier this month that Mamdani’s campaign had supposedly gotten $13,000 in donations from 170 people living outside the US. Mamdani’s team argued that $4,000 of the foreign funds came from Americans residing abroad, which made those donations legitimate.
The New York City Campaign Finance Board says that between September 8 and October 20, Mamdani’s campaign got back almost $4,000 from 67 donors from outside the US.
This included a $2,100 donation from Dubai-based investor Ada Diaz Ahmed. The campaign has still been getting donations from people outside the US. In October, three people from the UK, Australia, and Germany gave $130.
Campaign Finance Board spokesman Daniel Kurzyna said these donations should have been flagged by the city.
“If the city’s campaign finance portal allowed foreign donations to be processed, that is a system issue the Campaign Finance Board must address, and any improper contributions will be returned,” CFB spokesman Daniel Kurzyna said in a statement to the media.
Mamdani’s team and campaign have stated they are looking into the matter and will comply with all laws.
Trump administration Border Czar Tom Homan said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is under investigation for allegedly employing an undocumented immigrant and assisting others in evading Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“It’s being looked at, can’t comment past that. I’m aware of it, we’ve asked ICE to drill in on that case,” Homan told political commentator Benny Johnson in a recent interview. He added that he couldn’t comment on the case because it was still under active investigation.
“As far as you know her educating people on how to evade ICE arrests, she’s really educating them on how to be prosecuted…when you knowingly hinder your removal, that’s a crime,” Homan added during the interview.
Johnson then asked how it was possible for a member of Congress to employ an illegal alien, to which Homan responded: “It is not possible.”
Diego de la Vega, a former deputy communications director for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), moved to Colombia in March after 23 years in New York City. Born in Ecuador, he came to the U.S. at age 7 on a visitor’s visa and remained after overstaying, becoming undocumented.
The punishment for harboring an illegal alien is punishable by a large fine and years in prison, according to the Justice Dept.
Homan urged the Justice Department to investigate Ocasio-Cortez after she hosted a February “Know Your Rights” webinar advising constituents on how to respond to ICE.
That same month, she wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking clarification on whether she was under investigation.
“I write to request clarity on whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) has yielded to political pressure and attempts to weaponize the agency against elected officials whose speech they disagree with,” she wrote.
“Over the past two weeks, ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan has gone on multiple forums threatening political prosecution against me, citing resources I distributed informing my constituents and the American public of their constitutional and legal rights,” she added.
Ocasio-Cortez also said Homan’s “attempts to use your agency to politically intimidate duly elected officials are a textbook threat to the right to free speech in the United States.”
Over the summer, Ocasio-Cortez was found to have broken House ethics rules by accepting more than $3,700 in gifts for her appearance at the 2021 Met Gala — including the now-infamous “Tax The Rich” dress — but paid less than $1,000 for the items.
The House Ethics Committee found that the New York Democrat failed to follow House rules on gifts and improperly gave her boyfriend, Riley Roberts, a free ticket to the exclusive $35,000-per-head event, The New York Post
But the panel stopped short of issuing any formal sanctions.
According to the committee, the fair-market value of the rented Brother Vellies dress, shoes, jewelry, handbag, and hairpiece totaled $3,724.04.
Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign delayed payments for months and eventually paid just $990.76 — most of it from her own pocket.
Her staff also disputed some of the invoices and tried to reduce costs by comparing the couture gown to cheaper rentals online.
“Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s attempt to apply a retail rental cost to a handmade couture gown was unrealistic,” the committee’s report said.
The report noted that most vendors weren’t paid until after they made repeated attempts to collect — some even threatened legal action.
That led to subpoenas from the committee and a more than three-year investigation.
While the panel said it found no evidence Ocasio-Cortez “intentionally” underpaid for the goods, it did place blame on her former staffers, including ex-campaign manager Rebecca Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was caught trying to negotiate down the cost of the dress — from $1,300 to $300 — and left a $477 hairstylist bill unpaid for nearly six months.
The hairstylist eventually threatened to report the congresswoman’s campaign to the New York Department of Labor.
The Ethics Committee said no punishment would be necessary — as long as Ocasio-Cortez donates $250 to cover her boyfriend’s dinner at the event and pays an additional $2,733.28 to the designer.