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Senior aides to U.K.'s Nigel Farage step down in donation scandal where reporter posed as wealthy American's son
cbsnews.com • • world
Key Points:
- Two senior aides to Nigel Farage, James Orr and Dan Jukes, resigned from the U.K.'s Reform party amid allegations of breaching electoral law related to foreign funding following an undercover Channel 4 investigation.
- The investigation involved a journalist posing as the son of a wealthy American businessman seeking to donate to the party, revealing discussions about arranging impermissible donations and commissioning political polls funded by these donations.
- Farage denied any wrongdoing, calling the report entrapment, but the party launched an internal investigation and removed the implicated aides pending its outcome.
- The allegations have intensified scrutiny on Reform, coinciding with the party's conference and ongoing parliamentary inquiries into other large donations, while police and the Electoral Commission are reviewing the matter.
- Opposition parties have formally complained to the police, who are assessing the situation but have not yet opened an investigation.
