Donald Trump’s campaign has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against England’s Labor Party, alleging “blatant foreign interference” in the US election in aid of the Harris-Wallace campaign.
The complaint cites media reports of alleged contact and apparent volunteer efforts between Labor and the Harris campaign, which it argues amount to illegal “contributions.”
The BBC understands that Labor activists campaigning in the US presidential election are doing so privately.
The Labor Party has not issued an official response.
In particular, the newspaper report cited individuals associated with labor as having traveled to the United States to campaign for Harris.
The report “creates a reasonable inference that the Labor Party made, and the Harris campaign accepted, illegal foreign national contributions,” the complaint said.
The letter noted that the Washington Post had reported that there had been an exchange of information between the parties and that senior officials had met privately.
Additionally, the complaint cites a social media post on LinkedIn in which a Labor staffer said “nearly 100” current and former party members will travel to battleground states in the United States.
A post by Labor Party operations chief Sophia Patel said there were 10 “spaces” and “we’ll get your house in order”.
It appears to have since been deleted.
The complaint draws comparisons to an international program in 2016 in which the Australian Labor Party, or ALP, sent delegates to help Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
However, in that event, the ALP paid for flights and per diems. The party and campaign were each fined $14,500 in civil penalties.
It is understood from party officials that the trips of labor activists are neither organized nor sponsored by the party.
Foreign nationals are allowed to serve as campaign volunteers, as long as they are not compensated, according to FEC rules.
It is considered normal for party executives from the United Kingdom to be in touch with their counterparts in the United States.
This has happened before between the UK’s Conservative Party and the US Republican Party.
The BBC has contacted the Harris-Walls campaign for comment.
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