RNC files FEC complaint over illegal Obama foreign cash

In the about time category, the RNC has finally filed an official complaint with the FEC about the much-reported illegal foreign campaign contributions to the Obama campaign.

The Republican National Committee is filing a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission over what they believe are illegal donations made to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign from foreign sources.

"We believe they have been accepting donations from foreign nationals and excessive contributions," said RNC Communications Director Danny Diaz. He said there were "questions with regards to the legitimacy" of the hundreds of millions low-dollar contributions Obama has received.

Federal campaign finance law forbids campaigns from accepting donations from foreign nationals. The complaint will be formally filed with the FEC Monday. The RNC is requesting that the FEC begin auditing Obama's campaign contributions.

If the RNC's allegations are true, it won't be the first time the FEC has found Obama guilty of taking money from foreign sources. Earlier this year, the FEC ordered the Obama campaign to return an illegal donation worth $31,100 made from two brothers in the Gaza Strip.

The RNC's complaint was spurred by a story written by Newsweek's Michael Isikoff on October 4. It said the Obama campaign had accepted online donations from people named "Doodad Pro" and "Good Will." The "Good Will" donor said his employer was "Loving" and his occupations was "You." The address he submitted was for a GoodWill Industries store.

Before Isikoff wrote his piece, several conservative blogs had discussed some of these odd-sounding donations as well.

RNC General Counsel Sean Carincross said various press reports have called into question at least 11,500 donors names. Those names donated approximately $33.8 million to Obama's campaign.

Jim Geraghty at The Campaign Spot on NRO is one who's been writing about these illegal foreign contributions and has a pretty good guess what the FEC will be looking into.

My guess is that it is based on these reports, that had a "Good Will" of Austin, Texas, giving $17,375 in 1,000 separate donations, mostly in amounts of $25 to avoid FEC disclosure requirements, as well as “Pro, Doodad,” from “Nando, NY,” who gave $19,500 in 786 separate donations, most of them for $25.