Yesterday Scottish MP Natalie McGarry tweeted her disgust with Donald Trump's (illegal) email to Scottish Parliament members asking for campaign donations. The email came from Donald J. Trump Jr. and McGarry responded with repulsion saying (among other things), “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.”
Apparently all elected officials in Scotland, Australia, Iceland and the United Kingdom were hit with the illegal fundraising emails. One member of the UK parliament took to the floor of the House of Commons to ask that all emails from Donald Trump be blocked. From the BBC:
Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale calls for Donald Trump campaign emails to be blocked on the House of Commons email system.
Sir Roger raises a point of order to complain that many MPs have been "bombarded with emails from Team Trump on the behalf of someone called Donald Trump".
While he is in "all in favour of free speech" he does not wish to be "subject to intemperate spam", adding that "efforts to have these deleted have failed".
UK MP’s of all stripes found common ground on the Trump spam issue:
In response Mr Bercow said: “May I commiserate with the Honourable Gentleman who has undergone as far as I can tell an irritating and some might think exceptionally tedious experience...
“All Honourable Members, I know, receive large numbers of emails and will have devised ways of dealing with the flow.
"However, while this is not directly a point of order for the chair, I do not think it is acceptable that Members should be bombarded with emails of which the content is offensive. I will ensure that Members of the Parliamentary Digital Service, who I know have the facility to block certain types of email, are made aware of this issue.
An Australian MP thought he was the target of a prank, but the emails keep coming:
xHas someone added me to the Trump email list as a prank, or has he bought a really dud spam email marketing list? pic.twitter.com/QnN6vaBFcI
— Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) June 24, 2016Great job bringing world leaders together for a common cause, Donald Trump. They all want the same thing—stop sending your pathetic emails.
xDear @nytimes, could you pass a message to @realDonaldTrump for me? Please stop sending campaign begging letters to MPs. It's pathetic!
— Stuart McDonald MP (@Stuart_McDonald) June 27, 2016And once again, the Federal Elections Commission is very clear that these types of fundraising campaigns are illegal:
The ProhibitionThe 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.
Who is a Foreign National?The following groups and individuals are considered "foreign nationals" and are, therefore, subject to the prohibition:
Foreign governments; Foreign political parties; Foreign corporations; Foreign associations; Foreign partnerships; Individuals with foreign citizenship; and Immigrants who do not have a "green card.”