Nikki Haley — who wants to ban foreign lobbying — gets maximum donation from foreign lobbyist
Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley's 2024 presidential campaign has benefited from the largesse of a donor who lobbies for foreign governments, and at least one of those donations was not officially disclosed for months.
The Daily Beast reported on Monday that the former South Carolina governor still has yet to return donations from Oswaldo "Ozzie" Palomo, who has given both Haley's campaign and her joint fundraising committee (JFC) the maximum allowable amount under Federal Election Commission (FEC) guidelines. FEC records show Palomo gave $6,600 to Haley's JFC in February, and $5,000 to her campaign in June. Palomo works for lobbying firm Chartwell Strategy group, and his clients include various eastern European government officials, including the Georgian government and a political party in Romania.
Haley accepting these donations flies in the face of previous comments made on the campaign trail. In May, ABC News reported on Haley's consistent calls in her stump speeches for a full ban on foreign lobbying.
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"All these lobbyists that get paid from foreign entities to lobby Congress — outlaw all foreign lobbying whatsoever," Haley said while campaigning in Iowa earlier this year. "That's what embassies are for."
The Daily Beast reported that, in addition to Haley accepting Palomo's financial support, Palomo initially failed to report the second $5,000 donation in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Palomo attributed the omission to a "hectic summer schedule" and amended the form after the Beast reported on the oversight. Aside from Haley, Palomo has also donated to a slew of other Republican political candidates in both state and federal races including 2024 presidential contender Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-Virginia) among others.
Chartwell's other foreign clients aren't limited to eastern Europe: According to its FARA disclosure form, the company also represents companies that engage in anti-democratic surveillance campaigns, including iFlytek — a voice recognition software developer partially owned by the Chinese government. Chartwell also represents an Israeli company that President Biden's White House blacklisted in 2021 for helping foreign governments "maliciously target" dissidents.
Haley has previously blasted recipients of Chinese money. Fox News reported in 2022 that Haley criticized "anyone taking money from China as ignoring the ongoing genocide against Uyghur Muslims in the country."
