Reporters posing as representatives of a Chinese tycoon approached Trump and Clinton PACs and offered them $2 million; only the Giuliani and Trump, Junior-backed Great America PAC agreed, and moreover, assured the fake Chinese benefactor that the origin of the contribution would be covered up and that he would have influence with Trump after the election.
The PAC is blaming it all on a rogue “consultant.” The plan laid out by the PAC closely mirrored the money-laundering donations from Chinese millionaires Gordon Tang and Huaidan Chen to Jeb Bush, following the instructions for laundering offshore money set out by GOP kingmaker Charlie Spies in a leaked memo.
And the fictitious Chinese benefactor’s generosity would not go unrewarded should the donor a require a line of communication to Mr Trump if he became president.
“We can have that whispered into Mr Trump’s ear whenever your client feels it’s appropriate,” he said. After a telephone conversation with Mr Beach, Mr Benton said that the PAC wished to invite the reporters to a party the group was hosting in Vegas on October 19, the night of the final presidential debate.
He later passed on a briefing on the event prepared by Mr Beach. Mr Benton warned that he would have to stay away from Vegas because “everything that we’re doing is legal by the book but there’s perceptions and some grey areas.”
Exclusive investigation: Donald Trump faces foreign donor fundraising scandal
[The Telegraph]
(Trump silhouette derived from Garry Trudeau)