Donald Trump’s presidential campaign appears to be sending emails seeking foreign donations, despite complaints being filed with the Federal Election Commission by watchdog groups.

Terri Butler, a member of Australia’s parliament, sent an email to The Hill showing the latest fundraising solicitation she received from the Trump campaign on Aug. 14, which sought a contribution from her to “join the highest ranks of our campaign as an Executive Member.”

Foreign individuals, corporations, and governments are not allowed to give directly to U.S. candidates or to influence U.S. elections by advertising, according to The Hill.

A Trump campaign official told The Hill that they have dealt with the issue. “The person received one email because they signed up for our system. It was flagged by the system and removed,” the official said.

The Trump official blamed “scammers” for the solicitation, saying, “We routinely check for foreign nationals. However we’ve seen sometimes that scammers will continue to try to add them to our system.”

Butler told The Hill that she never signed up for a Trump email list and did not know why she was being solicited by the campaign.

Nonpartisan watchdog Campaign Legal Center’s general counsel, Larry Noble, said that the solicitation by Trump’s campaign is “clearly illegal.”

Noble said his group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and sent a letter to the Department of Justice.

“His refusal to put a stop to the solicitations is compelling evidence of the campaign’s flagrant disregard for the law,” Noble said.

Democracy 21 president Fred Wertheimer said that he does not know why Trump’s campaign would continue the solicitations, calling it “inexplicable and impossible to understand.”

“There is no ambiguity about the fact that these solicitations are illegal,” Wertheimer added.

According to Bloomberg, former FEC staff member Bob Biersack said, “If it’s a knowing and willful violation, it could be criminal.”

In June, watchdog groups filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission.

The Campaign Legal Center’s deputy executive director Paul S. Ryan said in a statement:

“Donald Trump should have known better. It is a no-brainer that it violates the law to send fundraising emails to members of a foreign government on their official government email accounts, and yet, that’s exactly what Trump has done repeatedly.”

http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Trump-Campaign-Seeking-Foreign-Donations/2016/08/16/id/743796/