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A key liberal group and Vice President Biden renewed unsubstantiated charges Monday that foreign money is bankrolling political activity to support Republicans in the crucial midterm elections.
The latest broadsides came on two fronts. MoveOn.org Political Action released a new ad attacking Illinois Republican Senate nominee Mark Kirk for his ties to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and claiming it receives funds from Chinese and Russian companies that “threaten American jobs.” Biden, meanwhile, repeated an assertion first made by President Obama that some of the vast sums flowing to independent groups for ads might come from “foreign sources.” Neither offered proof that foreign money is paying for ads.
The chamber, which has pledged to pump $75 million into the congressional elections, adamantly denies it has used any dues from foreign affiliates for politics. Bruce Josten, the chamber’s top lobbyist, called the charges an attempt to “demonize specific groups” and “distract Americans from a failed economic agenda.”
It is illegal for foreign companies to contribute directly to American political campaigns.
Campaign-finance experts, however, say it is impossible to verify Democrats’ claims of foreign involvement in campaigns because federal law does not require non-profits, such as the chamber, to publicly disclose their sources of funding or certify that overseas contributions do not pay for ads.
“Are foreign companies involving themselves in the current election? The answer largely is: Who knows?” said Dave Levinthal of the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign money.
“Both sides are being somewhat disingenuous,” he said. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and other groups allied with the party have presented no proof of their allegations. Meanwhile, Levinthal said, conservative groups “aren’t exactly rushing to volunteer information.”
The controversy has erupted as Democrats face a flood of outside spending benefiting Republican candidates in the sprint to Election Day. Between Sept. 1 and Oct. 6, conservative organizations such as American Crossroads, spent nearly $26 million on political activity that calls for the election and defeat of specific congressional candidates, according to the center’s tally. That’s more than four times the amount spent by liberal groups, such as Defenders of Wildlife, during the same period.
The new spending is spurred, in part, by a Supreme Court ruling last January that opened the door to unlimited corporate money for ads that specifically target candidates.
Republicans “are being incredibly aggressive and for good reason,” Levinthal said. “There’s the very real opportunity that they could win back the House, and perhaps have an outside chance at the Senate,” he said.
The Republicans need a net gain of 39 seats in the House of Representatives and 10 in the Senate to take control of Congress.
MoveOn spokeswoman Ilyse Hogue defended the anti-Kirk ad, which it plans to air in Chicago and central Illinois. She said the burden is on the chamber to prove it is not funneling foreign money to politics. “The chamber could put this all to rest so easily … by simply allowing an independent audit.” Kirk spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski called MoveOn “an extreme liberal group” that is out of sync with “mainstream Illinois voters.”
In recent days, Obama has argued foreign money was funding conservative campaign ads, without naming the Chamber of Commerce.
Others with close ties to the president have been more direct. A DNC ad, for instance, said the chamber “shills for big business” and appears to take “secret foreign money to influence our elections.”
On Monday, Biden hit on the theme again during a campaign swing through Pennsylvania. “It bothers me, all these unattributed contributions,” he said during a speech outside Scranton. “Where is all this money from?”
Obama first raised the specter of foreign funds flowing into U.S. elections during his State of the Union Address this year, in which he lambasted the Supreme Court’s decision. In recent months, Senate Republicans have blocked consideration of Democratic legislation that would require new disclosure in political advertising, including mandating that CEOs appear in ads they helped fund.
Allegations of campaign-finance irregularities are unlikely to resonate with most voters unless there’s clear proof of illegal activity, said Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at University of California-San Diego. “What people care about is the economy,” he said. “This is a sideshow.”