Read: Trump campaign accuses U.K. Labour Party of election interference
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Republican presidential nominee former President Trump at a rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, earlier this month. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The Trump campaign accused the U.K.'s ruling Labour Party in a complaint to the Federal Elections Commission of "blatant foreign interference" in the U.S. presidential election.
The big picture: There's no evidence that the party has donated to the Harris campaign, but the complaint says those "searching for foreign interference in our elections need to look no further" than a Labour aide's social media post saying "nearly 100" current and former staffers were heading to battleground states.
- Labour Party head of operations Sofia Patel's post that appears to have been deleted said she had "10 spots available for anyone available" to head to N.C. and "we will sort your housing."
Zoom in: The complaint also points to a September Washington Post report that strategists "linked" to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party "have been offering advice" to Vice President Kamala Harris following their landslide July victory in the U.K. elections.
- UK media report that some party activists have volunteered for the presidential election in their personal time.
Between the lines: Federal law prohibits any financial contributions, donations and expenditure from foreign nationals in any U.S. elections, per the FEC.
- "An individual may volunteer personal services to a campaign without making a contribution as long as the individual is not compensated by anyone for the services," according to the commission.
- "Although foreign nationals may not make contributions or expenditures (including advances of personal funds) in connection with any federal, state or local election, an individual who is a foreign national may participate in campaign activities as an uncompensated volunteer," the FEC states.
- While foreign national volunteers "must be careful not to participate in the decision-making process of the campaign," they "may attend committee events and campaign strategy meetings, but may not be involved in the management of the committee."
Zoom out: U.K. Reform Party Leader Nigel Farage has previously campaigned for Trump, though he's been notably missing since being criticized for attending the Republican National Convention to support Trump some two weeks after being elected as a member of Parliament.
- Liz Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, also attended the RNC, though she's no longer an MP after losing her seat at the last general election.
- Representatives for the Harris campaign declined to comment on the matter and representatives for Labour did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment in the evening.
Read the complaint, first obtained by Politico, in full via DocumentCloud:
Go deeper: Trump said he had "every right" to interfere with 2020 election
