Zohran Mamdani Faces Scrutiny After Allegations Of Foreign Donations In NYC Mayoral Race

Last Updated:October 29, 2025, 09:03 IST

Zohran Mamdani faces scrutiny as a campaign finance watchdog alleges his campaign accepted foreign donations, urging investigation before the election.

Zohran Mamdani (Reuters Image)

With just days remaining before the election, the leading candidate for the Democratic Party, Zohran Mamdani, is facing serious scrutiny after a conservative campaign finance watchdog alleged his campaign accepted funding from foreign donors.

The watchdog group Coolidge Reagan Foundation filed two criminal referrals- one with the US Department of Justice Criminal Division and another to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, accusing Mamdani of violating both the Federal Election Campaign Act and the New York Election Law by allegedly accepting contributions from foreign nationals. 

According to campaign finance records cited by the watchdog and media outlets, Mamdani’s campaign recorded nearly $13,000 (approximately Rs 11 Lakh) from at least 170 donors whose addresses were outside the United States, including one donation from his mother-in-law in Dubai. While some of the funds were returned, about 88 donations worth around $7,190 remain outstanding.

US federal law prohibits foreign nations from donating to American political campaigns and can result in penalties or criminal charges. The watchdog stated that Mamdani’s campaign had demonstrated a “systematic failure to comply" with campaign finance laws.

“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."

The Foundation urged Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute Mamdani over the potentially unlawful campaign funds that came in from Australia, Turkey, France, Canada, Germany, and other nations. 

The foundation has previously filed complaints against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic Committee.

Mamdani’s campaign spokesperson, Dora Pekec, told Fox News Digital, “All U.S. citizens and permanent residents, including those who live outside the US, are legally permitted to donate to New York City mayoral campaigns under federal campaign finance law and New York State and City law."

“The Campaign has a rigorous compliance process in place to ensure compliance with these laws, including a protocol to confirm whether donors with foreign addresses are US citizens or lawful permanent residents. The Campaign will promptly issue refunds for any donations that are found to be impermissible," Pekec added.

She further stated that some of the questionable donations have come from US citizens living abroad.

Mamdani’s campaign has raised around $4 million in private donations and $12.7 million in public matching funds.

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