LONDON — Following the Battle of Yorktown and misspelling the word Britain, former President Donald Trump’s legal team late Tuesday filed a remarkable complaint against Britain’s ruling Labor Party, accusing it of ‘blatant foreign interference’ in the US elections in favor of the vice president. Kamala Harris.
Trump’s team asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate after a senior Labor figure posted a call for current and former staffers to travel to battleground states and campaign for Harris ahead of the Nov. 5 vote.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that his party had done nothing wrong. Party members often travel to the United States ahead of elections to help their Democratic bedfellows, he said, but added that this was voluntary and not directed by the party, and therefore did not violate U.S. election law.
Nevertheless, if the FEC agrees with Trump – that Labor and Harris are guilty of flouting foreign interference rules – the FEC could impose large fines.
In any case, if Trump wins next month, the filing will pave the way for a very awkward start to cooperation with the British Labor Party – which he described as “far left” despite the party’s notable centrist shift in recent years. He also appears to have no plans to ease the hurtful and norm-breaking treatment he meted out to Washington’s closest allies during his first term.
“When representatives of the British government previously tried to go door to door in America, it did not end well for them,” wrote Trump campaign attorney Gary Lawkowski. “This past week marked the 243 anniversary of the surrender of British forces at the Battle of Yorktown, a military victory that established the United States as politically independent from Great Britain. [sic]. It appears the Labor Party and the Harris for President campaign have forgotten the message.”
When Trump’s letter dropped, Starmer was on a 28-hour flight to the Pacific island of Samoa, where he will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
He denied that Labor had broken any law and said there are volunteers “who have gone through virtually every election,” reported Sky News, the British affiliate of NBC News, which was on the plane.
“They do it in their spare time, they do it as volunteers, they stay, I think, with other volunteers there,” he said, adding that he had built “a good relationship” with Trump. “That’s what they did in previous elections, that’s what they’re doing in this election and it’s very simple.”
In an email to NBC News, a Labor spokesperson reiterated that it was “common practice for campaigners of all political persuasions from around the world to volunteer in US elections.” The spokesperson said that “where Labor activists participate, they do so at their own expense, in accordance with the laws and regulations.”
At the heart of Trump’s complaint is a now-deleted LinkedIn post from Sofia Patel, Labor’s chief of operations, in which she said nearly 100 “Labor Party operatives” traveled to North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Nevada. There were ten “spots” left in North Carolina, she posted, and “we will get you housing.”
It is that offer that Trump’s team says constitutes foreign interference – claiming that “we” refers to the Labor Party itself.
Foreigners are allowed to volunteer during election campaigns, but are not allowed to participate in any decision-making process or incur costs exceeding $1,000 per candidate. Any British volunteer whose flights, accommodation and daily expenses exceed this amount could be in breach of the law.
Trump’s legal letter also highlights that Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, and communications director Matthew Doyle traveled to August’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago. However, it is not unusual or controversial for foreign political allies to travel to these summits.
Former Starmer advisers have briefed campaign staffers on Harris, who has also adopted some of the same slogans – “turn the page” and “end the chaos”.
Trump is no stranger to delving into the politics of other countries, including Britain. In 2019, he called into populist, far-right lawmaker Nigel Farage’s radio show to praise Prime Minister Boris Johnson and criticize his opponent, Jeremy Corbyn.
Washington’s friends are well used to Trump’s brusque style, but the letter could be a major event in the transatlantic relationship as it signals how things could turn out if Trump were to win.
President Joe Biden describes Britain as his “closest ally,” and British politicians are always keen to make the most of their “special relationship.” Starmer would never publicly badmouth the possible future Leader of the Free World, but his center-left policies are much more similar to those of Harris’s Democrats.
In 2016, the FEC fined the Australian Labor Party and Bernie Sanders’ campaign after the ALP paid its delegates to campaign for the left-wing Democrat.
Aid also flows in the other direction across the pond.
A year earlier, in 2015, Jim Messina and David Axelrod, both former aides to then-President Barack Obama, were hired as advisers by the British Conservative and Labor parties, respectively.
Messina’s Conservatives came out on top.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
