House and Senate Republican staff members on the Senate
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and House
Government Oversight Committee say they will be more than happy to
open investigations into White House and Democrat party charges of
foreign financial influence in the U.S. election process if they
win back majorities in Congress this November.
“Given that we know that President Obama’s presidential
election campaign received millions of dollars and possibly tens of
millions of dollars in foreign donations, and that a number of
union-funded organizations received foreign contributions during
the 2008 and 2010 election cycles, and that MoveOn.org has perhaps
received millions in foreign contributions, not to mention the
possibility that the Center for American Progress has foreign
donors, we can see where the American people might be concerned
that these entities not have the opportunity in the 2012 election
cycle to tap into such resources,” says a Senate Republican staffer
with ties to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee’s Permanent Committee on Investigations. “And since our
Democratic colleagues chose to ignore all of this, then perhaps we
should revisit them.”
Should Republicans regain control of the House and/or
Senate, they would be in a position to open investigations and hold
hearings similar to the ones held back in the 1990s, when it was
revealed that the Clinton White House, with Vice President
Al Gore as the point person, sought illegal
campaign contributions from individuals with ties to the communist
Chinese and other Asian countries. Those investigations led to
criminal charges and several Democrat fundraisers spending time
behind bars for their illegal activities.
“Most media reports now say that these Democratic charges
are baseless, but we’ve been wanting to look at where all these
left-wing Democrat groups that are so active on the policy front at
the EPA, FCC, and elsewhere get their money. I’m sure that a
Republican House Oversight chairman would be happy to hold such
hearings,” says a House Oversight Republican staffer.
Just how much hard data such investigations and hearings
might render is unclear. Leftist groups like MoveOn, the Center for
American Progress, and Free Press are legally protected from
revealing their donor lists. Some groups at times have revealed the
names of some major underwriters.
California Rep. Darrell Issa is in line
to become the chair of the House oversight committee, while Sen.
Tom Coburn could possibly lead the Senate
investigations subcommittee.
