The Federal Election Commission (FEC) released records showing presidential hopeful, Senator Barack Obama, accepted more than $3.3 million from residents of foreign countries. Under Federal election law, non-US citizens are prohibited from contributing to American campaigns. In response to this disclosure, the Republican National Committee filed a complaint with the FEC on October 6th and is calling for an official investigation into the identity of the foreign contributors. According to the records, a majority of the on-line contributors listed an overseas address or postal abbreviation that did not correspond to one of the 50 states (or is that 57?)

Over half of Senator Obama's $455 million campaign donations come in increments of under $200, which avoids the individual reporting requirements. As a result, it is impossible to tell how many more foreign contributions exist within the undisclosed data.

In contrast, Senator John McCain's campaign has made public the names all contributors, regardless of the amount given.

David Axelrod, Senator Obama's senior advisor, responded to the RNC complaint by saying "...we're probably more forthcoming about disclosure than anyone," but failed to explain the discrepancy between his statement and the campaign's practice of not identifying small donors. A spokesman for Senator Obama said the donations came online, emphasizing that "anyone can donate to the campaign through the Internet." None of these responses explain who the money came from, or acknowledges the illegal nature of accepting contributions from those outside the United States.

Even if the FEC investigates these overseas contributions, a conclusion to the investigation won't come until well after the election is over, meaning Senator Obama will be able to benefit from the use of unidentified funds through Election Day.