In a scandal that may derail a rising star in the Democratic Party, Zohran Mamdani’s NYC mayoral campaign, now one that has been victorious, faces criminal referrals from the conservative Coolidge Reagan Foundation to the DOJ and DA Alvin Bragg, which point to an alleged $13,000 in illegal foreign donations.
Providing context, CRF’s Dan Backer called it a “sustained pattern. Agreeing, Chairman Shaun McCutcheon deemed foreign funds “a threat to self-government. This is far from the only scandal affecting Mamdani’s race, and House Republicans Randy Fine and Andy Ogles have requested that the DOJ examine Mamdani’s naturalization, with the possibility of deportation.
In any case, Dan Backer, CRF President, directed a spotlight on these financial irregularities in the report, calling for him to face justice for campaign finance law violations. “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 explained. Agreeing, Shaun McCutcheon, CRF Chairman, said these irregularities were “a threat to self-government.”
It is a major violation of the law because federal law, state law, and local law provides that only US citizens and permanent legal residents are allowed to contribute to campaigns or PACs, and candidates who receive donations from outside the country or from those within the country who should not have contributed must return them.
Those who do not return the illegal donations, particularly if they knowingly accept and keep foreign donations, face both hefty fines and prison time. As at least 170 contributions to the Mamdani campaign came from donors with addresses outside the United States, as revealed by the CRF investigation, Mamdani’s campaign appears to have broken the law in a major way.
However, the Mamdani campaign refused to accept responsibility. “The Campaign has a rigorous compliance process in place. Any issue regarding financial contributions has been resolved. We will, of course, return any donations that are not in compliance with CFB law,” his campaign claimed.
As we reported at the American Tribune, House Republicans have alleged significant undisclosed ties to socialist organizations and Hamas support, which they say warrant denaturalization and deportation. Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) wanted the DOJ to “Review every naturalization of the past 30 years — starting with Mamdani.”
"*" indicates required fields
Additionally, he advocated for a comprehensive reexamination of immigration. “I just think we need to take a hard look at how these folks became citizens, and if there is any fraud or any violation of the rules we need to denaturalize and deport,” Fine noted.
Wrapping up his comments, he said that this is doubly important for elected officials. The Republican said, “I know that there’s a lot of us that are very, very concerned about the enemy within – people who have come to this country to become citizens, to destroy it. If they’re not Americans, they can’t be in office.”
Likewise, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) refused to hide his disgust. He suggested that DHS “Deport Mamdani!” Additionally, he slammed the Mayoral hopeful, saying, “Zohran ‘little Muhammad’ Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York.”
Building on this point, Ogles laid out the case. “In 2018 when he was naturalized, he failed to disclose some of the things that he had been doing, one of which was joining the [Democratic] Socialists of America. That’s a communist organization which, quite frankly, at that time, would have disqualified him from becoming a United States citizen,” he declared.
Concluding his comments, the conservative representative said, “He may have procured U.S. citizenship through willful misrepresentation or concealment of material support for terrorism. If you come here with the intent to undermine our country, you get to leave. This is our country. This is our Constitution. We get to decide who comes — and who has to leave. And Mamdani should be first.”