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McCain asking Russian envoy for money 'was a mistake'
John McCain's US presidential election campaign has solicited a financial contribution from an unlikely source - Russia's UN envoy - but a McCain spokesman said on Monday it was a mistake.
- Agencies
- Published: 08:36 October 21, 2008
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United Nations: John McCain's US presidential election campaign has solicited a financial contribution from an unlikely source - Russia's UN envoy - but a McCain spokesman said on Monday it was a mistake.
In the letter, McCain urged Russia's UN Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, to contribute anywhere from $35 to $5,000 to help ensure McCain's victory over Democratic rival Senator Barack Obama, currently ahead in voter preference polls.
McCain said in the letter, "If I have the honour of continuing to serve you, I make you this promise: We will always put America - her strength, her ideals, her future - before every other consideration."
Moscow's mission to the United Nations issued a terse statement on the Republican presidential candidate's letter, saying that the Russian government and its officials "do not finance political activity in foreign countries."
A spokesman for McCain, a long-time critic of Russia, had a simple explanation for the fundraising letter's arrival at the Russian mission in New York, "It was an error in the mailing list."
The letter was addressed to Churkin and sported a McCain signature near the bottom.
It is illegal for US presidential candidates to accept funds from foreign sources. The McCain campaign accused Obama earlier this month of not doing enough to screen for illegal contributors and asked US election officials to investigate.
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