Robert MacCulloch
Robert MacCulloch is a native of New Zealand and worked at the Reserve Bank of NZ before he travelled to the UK to complete a PhD in Economics at Oxford University.
An almighty row has broken out in the United States as Donald Trump’s campaign has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against the UK’s Labour Party, accusing it of “blatant foreign interference” in the US election in aid of the Harris Democrat campaign. The complaint cites media reports about contact between Labour and the Harris campaign as well as apparent volunteering efforts, arguing that this amounts to illegal “contributions”.
Its a sensitive topic in America, since there have been allegations about foreign interference in their elections levelled before at the likes of Russia and China. So lets add New Zealand to the mix.
Why did our former Prime Minister Ardern attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago earlier this year? The reason is quite obvious, it would seem. Kamala Harris and Ms Ardern have a lot in common. Both were parachuted in to fight a national election just a few months beforehand, to replace more elderly men who were doing terribly in the polls. In Kamala’s case it was Joe Biden; in Ardern’s case it was former Labour leader Andrew Little. So Ardern, with little doubt, was there to give advice, probably at the highest level, to help the Democratics pull off an election victory in much the same way Ardern did in 2017.
She told a meeting there that people wanted a new kind of politics. “I do think if you look around the world there is a call from voters to see that positivity from politicians to try and reduce that sense of division. That’s one of the reasons I started the Field Fellowship.” What’s the “Field Fellowship”? It’s ‘a program that uplifts empathetic leadership and provides a global network of support to progressive leaders”.
The BBC says, “Foreign nationals are permitted to serve as campaign volunteers as long as they’re not compensated, according to Federal Election Commission rules.” The precise wording is, “Federal law prohibits contributions, donations, expenditures (including independent expenditures) and disbursements solicited, directed, received or made directly or indirectly by or from foreign nationals in connection with any federal, state or local election.”
Ardern spoke at The Global Progress Action Luncheon, organized by the Center for American Progress Action Fund. It was a side event, held in a hotel conference room and titled “Healing the Nation - Purposeful Policies for the Next Administration”. However the moderator was Patrick Gaspard, a prominent Democratic strategist.
OneNews NZ reported that “she spent much of the rest of the day meeting other Democrat heavyweights like Michigan governor Gretchin Whitmer, and is expected to attend an event hosted by JB Pritzker the governor of Illinois, the state where this convention is being held. She will be also attending the convention arena itself tonight.”
So she wasn’t only attending “fringe events”. She attended the full convention in the main arena itself and appears to have met with top Democratic brass guiding Karmala Harris’ campaign. Did it breach US Federal Election Commission rules? The trip was expensive. Who paid her bills? It calls for an investigation.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdjej417009o
https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/foreign-nationals/
This article was originally published by Down to Earth Kiwi.
