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AIPAC is based in the US and there is no evidence of foreign funds. I know it's shocking to hear, but there is a large Jewish population in the US that happens to endorse Israel.
The entities in this indictment went out of their way to circumvent FARA
Bro. The traitor John Roberts has opened up the floodgates of foreign money in our political system. Come on, now.
Thank you so much for mentioning this, I've seen wayyyyy too many people say that AIPAC is foreign interference with no backing.
So all Russia needs to do is register ARPAC inside the US and no-one can touch them.
No...To get around FARA they could never fund it, or ever coordinate with its leadership, just how AIPAC is funded entirely by US citizens and is ran entirely by US citizens, and has zero connection to the Israeli government.
Which makes sponsoring an organization like this incredibly risky, which is why almost no one does it.
Then so too can the American Russian Public Affairs Committee be funded entirely by US citizens, ran entirely by US citizens, and have zero visible connection to the Russian government.
No connections at all unless abiding by FARA yes, that would be legal. That's not even close to what happened here.
So we agree AIPAC should register under FARA. Sign here
No? How did you even get that impression? I literally just said AIPAC has no connection to the Israeli government, therefore it shouldn't be registered with FARA.
Also lol, Change.org really?
Coordination with Israeli officials
Rabbi Alexander Schindler, former chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (a US advocacy group), told an Israeli magazine in 1976, "The Presidents' Conference and its members have been instruments of official governmental Israeli policy. It was seen as our task to receive directions from government circles and to do our best no matter what to affect the Jewish community."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_lobby_in_the_United_States
Wow one dude said something similar to them being Israeli controlled over 30 years ago, it totally must be true then. /s.
This isn't evidence of anything
It is evidence.
Of course AIPAC is government controlled. It does nothing against their interests and everything for them.
Attempting to argue the contrary is disingenuous.
You need evidence to substantiate that FARA was circumvented by funneling funds from foreign entities.
If US citizens want to set up an entity and fund a lobbying group that supports Russia they are allowed to do so, but the money has to originate from US sources. Maybe take a few minutes to understand how the law works.
Why? Surely all PACs are fully transparent about the sources of their funds. Every dollar donated can be attributed to US citizens and, in turn, they can prove none of their income came from overseas.
Yea. Except that's not how any of this works. You have a really cartoon level understanding of how finance works and how these orgs are audited. The world is not a James Bond movie where some rando hacks a linux terminal and breaks into the IMF.
Arguing about levels of understanding is irrelevant.
The point is that whatever works for AIPAC can be replicated for the Russian equivalent ARPAC.
Yea. And the point is you have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe take some time to read up on how FARA and finance regulation works?
The point is all I'm doing is swapping the word Russia for Israel. All the same laws apply.
But you're assuming that the Israeli government has some connection to AIPAC, it doesn't. Sure some Americans could start a homegrown fully American Pro-Russia PAC, just like AIPAC, and that would be completely legal, but that's not what happened here.
If a homegrown fully American Pro-Russia PAC was started, how could we be sure there was no Russian government involvement? Donations are opaque.
The same way we prosecute all other breakings of FARA such as this one and all others, the donations aren't so opaque that the DOJ/FBI can't investigate it and figure out what's happening, just as they did here.
Do you think they walk around with millions of cash in bags with dollar signs on them??? How do you think money moves around or these orgs are audited?
If you don't understand a topic, it's OK. Say "I will do some research".
I don't argue with people about quantum string theory because I don't understand it. It's OK. Just take some time. All the information is out there. It's not as complicated as string theory, but if you put some time and heart into it you can get to the bottom of this conundrum.
Let's try a simple experiment.
Show me a breakdown of AIPACs sources of funds and spending. It doesn't to be a nicely presented infographic (although it should). Just link me to the data.
I don't understand the hubris in online discussions. Do you see me going around debating string theory with anyone? It's Ok to say 'I don't know'. The world would be so much better if we all just were a bit more honest. No one will think less of you. In fact, they'll respect you more.
It's not on us to hold your hand each step of the way to explain how finance regulation works or how difficult it is to move the large sums of money we are talking about. You made the claim AIPAC is circumventing FARA and that anyone can set up a lobby group tied to foreign funds easy like opening up a PayPal account. This betrays total ignorance of how much you understand about finance regulation. In order to even start a conversation we have to unpack all of FARA and everything else tied to finance regulation. I'm not obbligated to 'show you the sources' of AIPAC funds because you don't even understand the foundations of what we're talking about. So pump the breaks big guy.
We are not here to hold your wee wee every time you need to pee, but here you are, pissing in the pool so we have to put up with conspiracy theories day in and out.
A lot of words just to say that we don't know anything about AIPACs finances.
Russia just needs to copy the Israeli lobbying model.
YOU made the claim. Show us the evidence (you won't) that AIPAC circumvented FARA.
Either:
Which is it?
No. I stated that Russia can follow the AIPAC model, set up ARPAC, funnel money to some American donors and influence the election perfectly legally.
You're not tracking the convo.
Its the "funneling money" part you're not getting. They can't just PayPal it to their buddy.
I'm a US citizen living abroad. If I have over 10k in my account it triggers my bank to notify FBAR and they have to report it to the IRS - and that's not even an America bank!
At this point we're looping.
Overpay for services. Pay for non existing services. Use intermediaries. There are many, many laundering techniques and Russians are not stupid.
The point is that the shady thing happen at the donor level. The PAC stays clean and above board, and it's financial practices remain opaque.
Yes. You're right. If only we didn't think of that! Damn. Thank you Knock knock. I will pass the info along to AIPAC. Thank you.
It's been a really common talking point on right on the alt right for a while. To this day, no evidence has been substantiated to support this claim.
It's a major talking point in the pro-Palestinian crowd too. Though I feel like that group is shifting towards being alt right for this and many other talking points they have in common.