The New York Post says that Zohran Mamdani, the top contender for mayor and a self-described “lefty socialist,” is getting more and more criticism since records show that his campaign took in about $13,000 in foreign donations that may be unlawful.
A look at the records of the NYC Campaign Finance Board (CFB) found that at least 170 of the almost 54,000 total donations to Mamdani’s campaign originated from people who live outside the US. Only US citizens or permanent legal residents can legally give money to political campaigns and Political Action Committees (PACs) under federal, state, and city law.
Family Donation Among Those Marked
One of the flagged donations was a $500 gift from Mamdani’s mother-in-law, Bariah Dardari, who is a physician in Dubai. Ms. Dardari’s donation was returned the same day she made it in January, but the issue has caused political opponents to respond right away.
Curtis Sliwa, a Republican running for mayor, said he was worried and said, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so I would be very worried…” There is likely a lot more foreign money. Another critic, who did not want to be named, pointed out the risk of these PACs, calling them “a license to illegally funnel money” that foreign groups can use to “manipulate the election” without starting a war.
Still waiting for the campaign to return $7,190
Candidates are constitutionally compelled to refund unlawful money, and those who break the law could face penalties and jail time. However, Mamdani’s campaign has not totally fixed the problem.
Total Returned: So far, the campaign has given back $5,608.
Outstanding Funds: The campaign still needs to repay 88 international donations totaling a total of $7,190, according to the most recent documents.
Mamdani’s campaign responded to the accusations by saying they are taking action and that they will “of course return any donations that are not in compliance with CFB law.”
People and experts from all across the world made contributions, including:
Some donors gave as little as $1, while others gave the most, which was $2,100.
Money for campaigns and legal donations
The problem with foreign donations comes up just weeks before Election Day, since the campaign has a lot of money:
Total Amount of Private Donations: $4 million
Public Matching Funds Secured: $12.7 million
Cash on Hand: $6.1 million
Also, a lot of the money for the campaign originates from outside of New York City. Mamdani has raised $1.05 million in the last several weeks, which is more than twice as much as what former Governor Andrew Cuomo raised, which was $507,000.
Not all donations from other countries were judged to be against the law. Nupur Amin Marquardt, a US citizen who works as a consultant in Hamburg, Germany, gave $50 to the campaign legally in August, following the laws of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) because she is a US citizen.