Trump is spamming Scottish MPs with fundraising emails — which isn’t even legal
A Scottish member of parliament couldn't resist sending a sharp reply in response to fundraising messages sent by GOP candidate Donald Trump and his son, the Scotsman reports.
Real estate mogul Trump sent the emails to Scottish MPs last week, prompting Glasgow parliamentarian Natalie McGarry to question whether his campaign bought emailing lists, calling it "bizarre for a grassroots campaign."
The Scotsman reports the donation requests went largely ignored -- until McGarry fired off her response, which came after a follow-up plea from Trump's son.
“Quite why you think it appropriate to write emails to UK parliamentarians with a begging bowl for your father’s repugnant campaign is completely beyond me," she responded. “Given his rhetoric on migrants, refugees and immigration, it seems quite extraordinary that he would be asking foreign nationals for money; especially people who view his dangerous divisiveness with horror."
McGarry then said American elections are for the American people to decide -- but she hoped voters would reject him come November.
“The thought of his reactionary type of politics and apparent ignorance of world affairs having access to a seat at the world table is both surreal, and terrifying," she wrote. “The above is a long way to say No, and do not contact me again.”
Further, it is illegal for Trump to both solicit and take campaign contributions from foreign nations.
"The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) prohibits any foreign national from contributing, donating or spending funds in connection with any federal, state, or local election in the United States, either directly or indirectly. It is also unlawful to help foreign nationals violate that ban or to solicit, receive or accept contributions or donations from them. Persons who knowingly and willfully engage in these activities may be subject to fines and/or imprisonment."
Scottish National Party staffer Christopher Mullins-Silverstein told Fusion that Scottish lawmakers have been getting the solicitations since Trump arrived.
Mullins-Silverstein said he filed a complaint with the FEC.
“You should know who you’re asking these questions to," he said.
Trump made a controversial trip to Scotland on the heels of the Brexit vote to promote his locally-unpopular golf course there.
He was criticized for praising the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union, with some noting he made his comments in Scotland, which voted by a wide margin to stay in.