Donations directed to Trump Super PAC by Canadians deemed illegal

Mr. Zekelman used the small gathering, in a private room in the hotel, to pressure Mr. Trump to more than six minutes to use its executive power to curb imports of foreign steel into the United States from Asia, a move that would help its sales. He also asked Mr. Trump, urging him to another three minutes over dinner, to re-evaluate road safety rules that he said made it difficult for truckers in the United States to move his steel tubing.

The exchange became public because other dinner guests included Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who later worked with the President’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, and who released a recording dinner during Mr. Trump’s first impeachment deliberations in 2020.

“Let’s say someone is half an hour from home on their long-haul truck – they literally have to pull over to the side of the road and pull over,” Mr Zekelman said at the 2018 dinner. , depending on the record. “They can’t go home.”

Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman were finally loaded in a separate voter fraud scheme. The $325,000 they donated to America First Action has already been transferred by the super PAC at the Treasury.

The Federal Election Commission in 2016 voted unanimously “to prioritize cases involving allegations of foreign influence”, and he followed in a report to Congress in 2018. The issue had become of growing concern after unlimited donations were allowed through super PACs and corporate contributions became legal, making it easier for outsiders to circumvent the rules and make donations. major donations.

The committee in 2019 imposed $940,000 in fines associated with donations to a super PAC supporting Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign in 2016 after finding that $1.3 million in contributions in 2015 on behalf of a California company, American Pacific International Capital, came in part from two Chinese citizens.

Ms Weintraub said she would be disappointed if America First Action returned the donations to Mr Zekelman’s company, instead of transferring them to the Treasury, as he would receive more than he paid in fines. This provision of the settlement was negotiated by agency staff, she said, adding that she had raised objections.