Foreign influence: how a Chinese businessman funneled $1.3M to Jeb Bush's campaign

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/08/07/foreign-influence-how-a-chine.html

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200,000 not to report on something that is technically not illegal?

I’m not sure what I would do in that situation.

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“China, if you’re listening, see if you can find me some big bucks. I think you will find me very appreciative.”

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I’m glad you aren’t a journalist.

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Dear citizens of China,

I will be your friend for half what Jeb! charges. And I’m a good friend. We can play Nintendo, go on hikes, drink some beer, all kinds of stuff. You want me to text you at 2 a.m. telling you you’re a great person and your crush would be lucky to have you? No problem! In fact since that’s noon where I am, I’ll be better for that than most actual Chinese people.

Make me an offer. I will not be undersold.

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I’m not going to pay any attention to this for two separate but equally important reasons:

  • This is factual.
  • This doesn’t involve Hillary.
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You know what? I wish it’d worked. I wish this election were not a referendum on the republic, with a flawed but highly competent candidate on one side, and the goddamn Joker on the other.

I am having a little trouble right now getting exercised about foreign nationals completely failing to have any goddamn effect whatsoever on an American election.

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I was going to say the same thing: I wish he’d ponied up a little more, and saved us from the looming threat of Trump.

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Ask for a clarification: Are those real dollars or puny little Hong Kong dollars?

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What I want to know is why would two individuals with little to no connection to the US choose Jeb? I don’t remember him saying anything about policies that would help big businesses.

But then again, big corporate donors tend to get returns in the form of legislation and tax breaks. I’d be interested to see how foreign donors benefitted from sending money to governors in state elections.

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Does stuff like this possibly give grounds for a challenge on Citizen’s United?

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And for equal time, please list the foreign contributors to Hillary’s campaign, as well as those who helped influence her actions while Secretary of State. Far more than $1.3M!

But if it takes not even reading the article to reinforce your “biased liberal media” bogeyman, go for it.

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Well, to be fair, my first instinct was “take the money and give a hat tip to a friend”, followed closely by “take the money and report on it anyway”, but then again I am one of those simple people to whom 200,000 dollars is quite a bit of scratch.

The main reason I wasn’t sure what I would do is that I have zero clue as to what the legal implications of this situation would be; during moments like this, I find it best to consult with experts (hence the admission of doubt).

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It wasn’t necessarily 200,000 US dollars, as the article mentions. It might have been more like $25,000 USD.

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Take the money and then report on the fact that your were given some money by someone trying to influence your writing. Worst comes to the worst, you drum up some future business. :wink:

Real Singapore Dollars, possibly.

Maybe they hedged their bets by funding many candidates.

remember the part where he was running for US president as a Republican?

(Well, to be fair, Democrats also routinely support policies that help big business.)

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Better than HKD , but you will still be taking a: