The White House continued to attack the Chamber of Commerce over allegation of foreign donor ties. Many are seeing this as an effort to link Republican Party candidates with overseas corporate interests in the lead up to the November elections.
The chamber strongly denies that any foreign funds are utilized for election campaigns in the US, firing back that the Democrats are whipping up a speculative storm, in what is a somewhat desperate political year for them.
Speaking at a public rally in Philadelphia, President Obama said, "the American people deserve to know who is trying to sway their elections," he raised the possibility of foreigner interests funding opposition candidates, "You don't know, it could be the oil industry. It could even be foreign-owned corporations. You don't know because they don't have to disclose."
The comments come as allegation of foreign influence in the Republican Party through various means, but also as the Democrats are trying to deal with a wave of independent advertising efforts aimed at boosting the Republican image. The advertising is largely accomplished by political donations, which, under current rules don’t have to be disclosed.
The White House has also, unofficially,
asked the chamber to open its books, to back up its claims that there are no
foreign interests backing the Republican Party campaigns.
Tom Collamore, the chamber senior vice president said that the attacks are "a blatant attempt to avoid a serious discussion of Americans' top priority - creating jobs and growing the economy."
