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Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe Under FBI Investigation For Possible Campaign Violations

The FBI is investigating whether Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s 2013 campaign accepted illegal contributions, federal officials confirmed to NBC News.
Economic Summit - Washington
Governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe speaks at the "Invest in America!" summit at the Chamber of Commerce April 12 2016 in Washington, DC, USA.Olivier Douliery / Sipa via AP file

The FBI is investigating whether Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s 2013 campaign accepted illegal contributions, law enforcement officials confirmed to NBC News.

Federal officials say for the past several months, the FBI has been looking at whether McAuliffe's 2013 campaign for governor of Virginia accepted political contributions that were forbidden by federal law.

McAuliffe is a one-time board member of the Clinton Global Initiative, the foundation set up by former President Bill Clinton and likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The former chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2000 to 2005, McAuliffe was also a co-chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.

Records show more than 100 donors contributed to both the foundation and McAuliffe's campaign.

Federal officials say investigators are looking at those overlaps and are especially interested in contributions from Wang Wenliang, a Chinese politician. The investigation was first reported by CNN.

Contributions by foreign nationals in U.S. elections are barred, but Wang’s spokesperson says he has permanent U.S. resident status.

A lawyer for McAuliffe's campaign said Monday that neither he nor the governor have been contacted by the FBI.

“Neither the governor nor his former campaign has knowledge of this matter,” said Washington, D.C. lawyer Marc E. Elias.

“Contributions to the campaign from Mr. Wang were completely lawful. The governor will certainly cooperate with the government if he is contacted about it,” Elias added.