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Foreign Corruption Of The Political Process Through Social Welfare Organizations, Norman I. Silber

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

This article examines alternative ways in which nonprofit social welfare organizations might be held accountable for channeling illegal foreign contributions to favored political candidates. Dangers intrinsic to allowing foreign countries, foreign nationals, and foreign corporations to influence the American electoral process have justified an outright prohibition on this conduct; clandestine channeling of foreign funds directly from political organizations or indirectly through religious organizations and into the hands of political candidates has been prosecuted previously. This exploration is prompted by the emerging possibility that during the Congressional elections of 2016 and the Presidential election of that year, large-scale, illegal donations from …