Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, was sentenced to 20 months in prison in 2022 after he helped funnel money from foreigners into a U.S. election. But when a Quebec-owned utility company spent $22 million on a ballot initiative in Maine, it was legal — a contradiction that has unsettled campaign finance experts and led to a series of lawsuits challenging who can and can’t spend in U.S. elections.
At its root is a deceptively tricky question: What exactly is foreign money?
In an increasingly global world, corporations and foreign governments are making the case that partial foreign ownership should be OK regarding election spending. And courts, reluctant to accidentally hamstring free speech rights guaranteed by the Citizens United decision, are so far siding with corporations and foreign governments for this “hands-off” approach.