Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has filed a complaint against the Labour Party for what it claims is “interference” in the US election.
The complaint to the Federal Election Commission in the United States is against Labour and Kamala Harris’ US election campaign for “making and accepting illegal foreign national contributions”.
It refers to reporting regarding meetings between Labour officials and the Harris campaign and people connected to Labour going to the US to volunteer for the Democrat campaign.
A statement on DonaldJTrump.com on Tuesday night claimed that “far-left” Labour has “inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric”.
The statement said that: “The Trump-Vance Campaign has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against the Harris-Walz Campaign and the Labour Party of the United Kingdom for illegal foreign campaign contributions and interference in our elections.”
The linked complaint addressed to the Federal Election Commission refers to reports by The Telegraph newspaper with regards to people associated with Labour going to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris.
It claims that reporting “surrounding the relationship between the Harris campaign and the Labour Party create[s] a reasonable inference that the Labour Party has made, and the Harris campaign has accepted, illegal foreign national contributions”.
The letter also refers to a report in the Washington Post which claims that advice has been offered between Labour Party strategists and Ms Harris’ campaign, and other reporting regarding meetings between senior Labour staff and the Democratic campaign.
Those referenced in the letter include Matthew Doyle, the director of communications, and Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s chief of staff.
The complaint also references a social media post, which now seems to have been deleted, in which a Labour staff member appeared to have said there were “nearly 100 Labour Party staff (current and former) going to the US in the next few weeks” to swing states.
The letter refers to a “volunteer exemption” in US elections which means foreign nationals can volunteer, but the letter states “they may not be compensated, foreign nationals may not make expenditures, and they may not direct or control activities of US campaigns”.
It is understood that volunteer trips have been organised in a personal capacity and accommodation has been arranged by volunteers for the Democrats.
Volunteers are understood to have gone to the US in their own time.
Sir Keir Starmer met with Mr Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, during a trip to New York last month.
The prime minister visited Trump Tower for talks ahead of the US election, and said he wanted to meet Mr Trump face-to-face because “I’m a great believer in personal relationships on the world stage”.
The Labour Party has been approached for comment.
Meanwhile, after decades of sitting on the sidelines of politics, Bill Gates, one of the richest people in the world, has said privately that he recently donated about $50 million to a nonprofit organisation supporting US vice-president Kamala Harris’ presidential run, according to three people briefed on the matter.
The donation was meant to stay under wraps. Gates, one of the founders of Microsoft, has not publicly endorsed Harris, and his donation would represent a significant change in the strategy that has previously kept him away from gifts like this.
In private calls this year to friends and others, Gates has expressed concern about what a second Donald Trump presidency would look like, according to a person briefed on Gates’ thinking, although he has stressed that he could work with either candidate. Gates does not have a deep relationship with Harris, but he has celebrated the Biden-Harris administration’s work on climate change. Gates’ philanthropic organisation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is significantly concerned about potential cuts in family planning and global health programmes if Trump is elected, according to two people close to the foundation.
Gates has said he made his donation to Future Forward, the main outside fundraising group supporting Harris, according to the people briefed on the matter. (Addtional reporting, The New York Times)