With tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan high, as the former withholds millions in aid from the latter, the FBI claimed in court papers on Tuesday that Pakistan’s military has spent $4 million in a covert plan to to tilt American policy against India’s control of much of Kashmir. The operation reportedly included funneling campaign donations to members of Congress and presidential candidates through at least ten straw contributors, who were allegedly reimbursed by the ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence agency. The FBI said there’s no evidence that any of the lawmakers who received the funds from Pakistan were aware of where the money was coming from, and it did not name any of the recipients. U.S. officials said the investigation is ongoing, with seventeen or eighteen search warrants related to suspected donors issued on Tuesday. The goal of the group, according to the documents, was to convince the U.S. government that “it was in its interest to push India to allow a vote in Kashmir to decide its future.” At that, the group may have failed.
Pakistan’s Military Plotted to Tilt U.S. Policy, F.B.I. Says [NYT]
