New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani faces two criminal referrals filed Tuesday by a campaign finance watchdog alleging he accepted illegal donations from foreign contributors.
The Coolidge Reagan Foundation submitted the referrals to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, accusing Mamdani of potential violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act and the New York Election Code.
The filings follow a report earlier this month by The New York Post that Mamdani’s campaign had collected nearly $13,000 from at least 170 donors with addresses outside the United States, including one contribution from his mother-in-law in Dubai.
“These are not isolated incidents or clerical errors,” Dan Backer, a national campaign finance expert and president of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, told The Post in a statement.
“This was a sustained pattern of foreign money flowing into a New York City mayoral race, which is a clear violation of both federal law and New York City campaign finance rules,” Backer noted further, per the outlet.
“Mamdani’s campaign was on notice for months that it was accepting illegal foreign contributions, and yet it did nothing meaningful to stop it.”
The Coolidge Reagan Foundation — which has previously filed complaints against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and the Democratic National Committee — called on Bragg and the Justice Department to investigate and potentially prosecute Mamdani over the alleged illegal campaign contributions.
The group said the donations originated from countries including Australia, Turkey, France, Canada, and Germany, among others, The Post said.
The organization alleged that Mamdani’s campaign showed a “systematic failure to comply” with campaign finance regulations.
