Lobbyists working on behalf of foreign nations are cutting large checks to help Democrats win two competitive Senate seats, records show.
Maryland, a traditionally blue state made competitive by the candidacy of popular Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan, and Arizona, a core swing state, have both seen an influx of cash from registered foreign agents ahead of election day, disclosures show.
Democrats are taking home the majority of these foreign agent contributions, with Rep. Ruben Gallego, the Democratic nominee in Arizona, bringing in well over ten times more cash from foreign agents than Republican nominee Kari Lake. In Maryland, Democratic Senate nominee Angela Alsobrooks has brought in nearly twice as much in donations from foreign agents as Hogan.
Gallego has long railed against the influence of lobbyists on policy.
“One of the things I am most proud of is that almost every dollar we raise comes from donations of less than $50,” a September 2023 fundraising email from Gallego reads. “That means when I go to the Senate, I’m not on the hook to some huge corporation or a bunch of lobbyists.”
Despite his convictions, the freshman representative took roughly $31,000 from registered agents of foreign nations between January 2020 and September 2023, according to disclosures. Lake, by contrast, received just $2,400 from foreign agents.
“We’ve known since the start of this race that Ruben Gallego is funded by Soros money, blue state billionaires and Hollywood elites,” a Lake campaign spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “To learn that he is also being propped up by foreign agents isn’t surprising, but it is alarming. These swampy and globalist factions love Ruben Gallego because they know he’s their willing puppet.”
Among the foreign agents helping to bankroll Gallego are a trio of lobbyists representing Venezuela’s state-run oil company.
Mike Smith and Israel Klein, two lobbyists who donated to Gallego and represent Venezuela, have forwarded information from the Venezuelan government to the State Department and met with high-ranking senators to advocate for a subsidiary of the socialist country’s state-owned oil company. Gallego, however, has criticized the Venezuelan government, condemning the country’s socialist government for rigging elections in July and calling for sanctions against it, according to press releases.
RealClearPolitics’ average of polls has Gallego leading Lake by about six points as of Oct. 29. Recent polls released by firms like Data Orbital, Trafalgar Group, and Insider Advantage, however, have Lake within a few points of Gallego.
Alsobrooks, similarly to Gallego, promised to “stand up to deep-pocketed, powerful, special interest” in a December 2023 fundraising email. Despite this, she has accepted $62,500 from registered foreign agents this election cycle, disclosures show. Lobbyists at Empire Consulting Group working for Qatar were one of the biggest blocs of foreign agents supporting Alsobrooks, giving her $12,600 since January 2023.
Qatar has sent millions of dollars since 2018 to Gaza that has then been used to prop up Hamas, the terrorist organization behind the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, according to CNN. The oil-rich Gulf state has also been harboring Hamas’ political leadership in some capacity since 2012, The Times of Israel reported.
Alsobrooks, though expressing support for Israel, called for a ceasefire shortly after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, believes in a two-state solution and is in favor of increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to the Baltimore Banner. Humanitarian aid sent to Gaza has historically been captured by Palestinian terrorists.
Hogan, on the other hand, got $33,000 from foreign agents, disclosures show.
While he has also taken a couple thousand worth of donations from Qatari foreign agents, the former governor has come out as a strong supporter of Israel in its war against Hamas, promising to be Maryland’s “pro-Israel champion” if elected. Hogan, for instance, called on Alsobrooks to reverse her support for cutting off aid to Israel after she said in May the U.S. should cut off support to Israel if it continued operations in the city of Rafah, according to the Washington Examiner.
Alsobrooks holds an average of about 51% support, with Hogan trailing at roughly 40%, according to RealClearPolitics’ aggregate of polls. Democrats won Maryland by over 30 points in 2020, CNN reported.
The Gallego, Alsobrooks and Hogan campaigns did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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