Cambridge Analytica, the data firm under growing accusations that it misused the Facebook data of up to 50 million user profiles, was accused by a government watchdog group on Monday of violating federal election laws, ABC News reports.
Common Cause filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department accusing the British-based firm and executives of its parent company SCL Group Limited of violating laws that prohibit foreigners from participating directly or indirectly in the decision-making process of U.S. political campaigns.
The complaint names SCL Group Limited CEO Alexander Nix, SCL co-founder Nigel Oakes, data scientist Alexander Tayler, and former employee-turned-whistleblower Christopher Wylie, all said to be non-U.S. citizens.
The Trump campaign paid Cambridge Analytica nearly $6 million for services during the 2016 election cycle, according to data from the FEC.
And 17 other GOP political groups, including Ted Cruz's presidential campaign and a super PAC headed by incoming national security adviser John Bolton, also paid the firm a combined $16 million for services like research and micro-targeting of voters, according to ABC News.
The complaints cite a New York Times report of an alleged memo dated July 22, 2014 from lawyer Laurence Levy, then at the firm Bracewell & Giuliani, to GOP megadonor Rebekah Mercer, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and the now-suspended Nix.
The memo warns them that foreign nationals "may not play strategic roles" in U.S. political campaigns, including giving "strategic advice," but that foreigners can still "act as functionaries that collect and process data" as long as the final analysis of that data is conducted by U.S. citizens.
"A full investigation must be conducted, and if Cambridge Analytica and its staff did in fact repeatedly violate our laws, then there must be punishment levied sufficient to deter similar lawbreaking in future," Paul S. Ryan, Common Cause vice president for policy and litigation, told ABC News.
The company did not immediately reply to requests for comment from ABC.
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