Last Updated on: 28th October 2020, 02:43 pm
God, don’t you just hate it when you accidentally claim to live in a town and country you don’t live in and write down the incorrect occupation on a form and then wind up donating to Donald Trump’s re-election campaign in violation of American campaign finance laws? That’s what happened to Senator Lynn Beyak who, if her office is to be believed, had like the worst case of the Mondays in recorded history.
Ontario Sen. Lynn Beyak — who has been suspended twice from the Senate over her comments about the Indigenous residential school system — donated to the Republican National Committee in May despite a U.S. election law forbidding campaign contributions by foreign nationals.
According to Federal Elections Commission records, Beyak donated $300 to U.S. President Donald Trump’s party while reporting a home in Dryden, N.Y. as her home residence and supplying a postal code from that area.
Beyak lives in Dryden, Ont., in the province’s northwest.
Under the U.S. Federal Election Campaign Act and commission regulations, foreigners are prohibited from making any contributions in connection with any federal, state or local elections in the United States.
The law also prohibits any contribution or donation to any committee or organization of any national, state, district or local political party.
Those who knowingly and willfully engage in these activities may face an FEC enforcement action, criminal prosecution, or both, according to the commission.In making her contribution, Beyak listed her occupation as “retired,” although, at the time, she was still a member of the Red Chamber.
VICE News first reported the campaign contribution.
In a statement to that news outlet, Beyak’s office confirmed that the senator did make a contribution but said the money was sent in “error.”
VICE reports that after it made inquiries about the donation, Beyak’s office said the money would be paid back; a staffer said that the money was “being returned in its entirety, simply because it was erroneous.”
Just to make things extra stupid, had she simply decided to volunteer her time to the party rather than falsifying documents so she could slip $300 under the radar, none of this would have been a problem. Foreigners are allowed to do that as long as they’re not being compensated.
Beyak’s office also gave the CBC a no comment when a reporter asked if she was a duel Canadian/United States citizen. That seems like a fairly simple yes or no question, but luckily for Senator Oopsie here an apparent unwillingness to answer it doesn’t look suspicious at all.
Between this and the whole residential schools did a lot of good so you people on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission really ought to focus more on that controversy, she should, but probably won’t, be out of a job. She’s become a complete embarrassment at this point.