Much of the U.S. media overlooked a Bill of Information filed in United States District Court in New Jersey on June 29. The information charged Bilal Shehu, an Albanian immigrant, with unlawfully funneling $80,000 from a foreign source into the coffers of a campaign committee of a candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 federal election cycle. See, https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/file/871961/download.
A press release issued by the United States Department of Justice at the time of Mr. Shehu’s plea of guilty to the Information reported that as part of his plea agreement with the United States, Mr. Shehu admitted to receiving the funds from a foreign bank account and that he then funneled the money to the Presidential campaign as if he was the donor in an effort to disguise the true origin of the funds and so that a foreign national could attend a campaign event on October 8, 2012 in San Francisco. The Department doesn’t identify the specific Presidential campaign nor does it identify the foreign national who attempted to gain entry to the campaign’s event. But, the press release indicates that the foreign national was denied entry to the event “but was allowed to be photographed with the president.” The press release also notes that the Presidential campaign is not accused of any wrongdoing. See, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-pleads-guilty-helping-disguise-foreign-contributions-during-2012-presidential.
This matter last appeared widely in the press in 2013 when California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats, wrote the Justice Department and asked that the Department investigate Mr. Shehu’s contribution to the Obama Campaign and, in that letter, implicated Edi Rama, then a candidate for Prime Minister of Albania, who was “heavily promoting a photo[graph] of himself with President Barak Obama in the hope it will help him with the June 23[, 2013] elections.” Mr. Rama did win that election and currently serves as Albania’s Prime Minister.
Contributions to any U.S. election at any level by a foreign national are prohibited by federal law. Title 52, United States Code, Section 30121(a). A “foreign national” includes the government of a foreign country, a foreign political party, a company doing business outside the United States unless that business is organized under U.S. law and has its principle place of business here, a person presently outside the United States unless that person is a citizen of and is domiciled within the United States or an individual who is neither a U.S. citizen nor an immigrant who has been admitted as a permanent resident. Id.; see also, Title 22, United States Code, Section 611(b).
Generally, prosecutions based on campaign contributions by foreign nationals have involved situations where the foreign national has attempted to influence American elections for his/her personal gain or the gain of some foreign entity. Usually the foreign national seeks more favorable treatment under U.S. law or through the development of influence within political circles in the United States. This case, however, involves an effort by a foreign national to influence policy and decisions within his own country by demonstrating a relationship with and access to the American Government and/or an American political leader.
While reporting of Mr. Shehu’s prosecution garnered little attention in the United States, it has spawned much debate in Albania. Prosecutors are reviewing the matter to determine if Albanian law has been violated. See, http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-prosecutor-to-decide-if-rama-has-illegally-financed-obama-07-07-2016. Here in the United States it signals again that the Department of Justice will carefully review the source of funds flowing into campaigns from foreign sources.
