September 23, 2026

Zohran Mamdani faces criminal referrals to DOJ over alleged illegal campaign donations from foreigners

Zohran Mamdani faces criminal referrals to DOJ over alleged illegal campaign donations from foreigners

A campaign finance watchdog group, the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, filed two criminal referrals against Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday.

New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani was hit with two criminal referrals Tuesday filed by a campaign finance watchdog accusing the lefty socialist of accepting illegal contributions from foreign donors. 

The Coolidge Reagan Foundation filed the referrals – alleging Mamdani may have violated the Federal Election Campaign Act and New York Election Code – with the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office on Tuesday. 

The referrals were filed after The Post reported earlier this month Mamdani’s campaign raked in nearly $13,000 in contributions from at least 170 donors with addresses outside the US – including one from his mother-in-law in Dubai. 

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani talks to reporters.
A finance watchdog group has filed two criminal referrals against Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani over alleged illegal campaign contributions from foreign donors. AP

“These are not isolated incidents or clerical errors,” Dan Backer, a national campaign finance expert and president of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, said in a statement. 

“This was a sustained pattern of foreign money flowing into a New York City mayoral race which is a clear violation of both federal law and New York City campaign finance rules,” Backer added. “Mamdani’s campaign was on notice for months that it was accepting illegal foreign contributions, and yet it did nothing meaningful to stop it.”

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