Trump campaign files complaint against Labour for election ‘interference’
Sir Keir Starmer met with Mr Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, during a trip to New York last month.
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has filed a complaint against the Labour Party for what it claims is “interference” in the US election.
The complaint to the Federal Election Commission in the United States is against Labour and Kamala Harris’ US election campaign for “making and accepting illegal foreign national contributions”.
It refers to reporting regarding meetings between Labour officials and the Harris campaign and people connected to Labour going to the US to volunteer for the Democrat campaign.
A statement on DonaldJTrump.com on Tuesday night claimed that “far-left” Labour has “inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric”.
The statement said that “The Trump-Vance Campaign has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against the Harris-Walz Campaign and the Labour Party of the United Kingdom for illegal foreign campaign contributions and interference in our elections”.
The linked complaint addressed to the Federal Election Commission refers to reports by The Telegraph newspaper with regards to people associated with Labour going to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris.
It claims that reporting “surrounding the relationship between the Harris campaign and the Labour Party create[s] a reasonable inference that the Labour Party has made, and the Harris campaign has accepted, illegal foreign national contributions”.
The letter also refers to a report in the Washington Post which claims that advice has been offered between Labour Party strategists and Ms Harris’ campaign, and other reporting regarding meetings between senior Labour staff and the Democratic campaign.
Those referenced in the letter include Matthew Doyle, the director of communications, and Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff.
The complaint also references a social media post, which now seems to have been deleted, in which a Labour staff member appeared to have said there were “nearly 100 Labour Party staff (current and former) going to the US in the next few weeks” to swing states.
The letter refers to a “volunteer exemption” in US elections which means foreign nationals can volunteer, but the letter states “they may not be compensated, foreign nationals may not make expenditures, and they may not direct or control activities of US campaigns”.
It is understood that volunteer trips have been organised in a personal capacity and accommodation has been arranged by volunteers for the Democrats.
Volunteers are understood to have gone to the US in their own time.
Sir Keir Starmer met with Mr Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, during a trip to New York last month.
The Prime Minister visited Trump Tower for talks ahead of the US election, and said he wanted to meet Mr Trump face-to-face because “I’m a great believer in personal relationships on the world stage”.
The Labour Party has been approached for comment.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.