Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act

Key Points

• The bill expands the existing ban on foreign money in U.S. elections to cover voter registration, ballot collection, voter identification, get-out-the-vote activities, and the administration of federal, state, or local elections.
• It makes it illegal to knowingly help or facilitate violations of the foreign money ban, and treats indirect contributions routed through intermediaries or conduits as if they were made directly by the foreign source.
• Political committees, parties, and anyone making independent expenditures or electioneering communications must certify under penalty of perjury that they have not accepted or used illegal foreign money.
• The bill protects the privacy of donors to 501(c) tax-exempt organizations by barring most federal agencies from collecting or publicly disclosing donor identities, with limited exceptions for the IRS, FEC, and court orders.
• Government employees who willfully leak donor information to tax-exempt organizations face felony charges, up to $250,000 in fines, up to 5 years in prison, and automatic dismissal from their jobs.
• FEC investigations into alleged foreign money violations are limited in scope to only the specific facts needed to determine whether a violation occurred, and targets can petition a federal court to quash overly broad subpoenas.