Miami Herald/McClatchy: Republicans block probe of contributions by Chinese elites to Trump PAC through spa operator

Elections finance law complaints against an Asian day-spa operator from South Florida who allegedly funneled contributions from Chinese elites, likely including foreign nationals, to a campaign committee backing then-President Donald Trump have quietly been dismissed.

The dismissal by the Federal Elections Commission came despite a staff finding that laws likely were broken and that the matter merited the FEC’s full attention. The six-member panel split 3-3, as is its usual practice, on whether to proceed, with Democrats voting yes and Republicans saying no. Four votes are needed for a full investigation to occur.

The dismissals were first reported by the Florida Bulldog.

Complaints against Li “Cindy” Yang, who raised campaign cash and parlayed persistence to gain access to Republican circles in Florida and get pictures taken with the then-president, were filed by Common Cause, a Washington-based watchdog group, and the Campaign Legal Center. The dismissal of those complaints came three years after the Miami Herald first revealed Yang’s activities in a series of articles titled Trump Tourism. …

None of the dozens of complaints about Trump-related fundraising have been deemed worthy of investigation by the full commission.

The general counsel for the FEC issued a 33-page report in June presenting preliminary findings that Yang violated campaign contribution laws. That report details Yang’s appearance at two high-profile fundraising events for Trump with groups of Chinese business people and the donations that preceded their attendance.

The report encouraged the FEC to continue investigating whether Yang had made “excessive contributions,” “contributions in the name of another” and provided “substantial assistance in the making of foreign national contributions.” …