Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says he knows nothing about a federal investigation of contributions to his 2013 campaign for governor.
Speaking Tuesday after a public event in Virginia, McAuliffe said, “There is no wrongdoing. They had some questions about a donor. My legal team fully vetted this individual. He’s been a green card holder since 2007, so we’re very confident.”
Federal officials say the FBI has been looking at whether his campaign accepted political contributions that were forbidden by federal law. The officials say investigators are especially interested in contributions from Wang Wenliang, a Chinese politician.
Contributions by foreign nationals are barred, but a spokesperson for Wang says he has permanent U.S. resident status and that his contributions were legal.
McAuliffe, a onetime board member of the Clinton Global Initiative and a co-chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign, said the investigation has “nothing to do” with the Clinton Foundation, which shared more than 100 donors with McAuliffe’s gubernatorial campaign.
“This has nothing to do with the Clinton Foundation,” he said. “This was an allegation of a gentleman who gave a check to my campaign. I didn’t bring the donor in. I didn’t bring him into the Clinton Foundation. I’m not even sure if I ever met the person, to be honest with you.” McAuliffe said he was shocked to learn of the investigation through news reports. “No one had reached out to us.” “I’m very confident. This gentleman had been fully vetted,” he said of Wang. “He’s a member of the NYU board. He’s a big contributor to Harvard University. Runs a major US company.” “Every check that came into the campaign was vetted” by campaign lawyers, he added. Carrie Dann contributed. This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.Recommended
Pete Williams