GROSS: My guest Lee Fang broke a big campaign finance story this week. He reports that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has been funding many political attack ads against Democrats, is trying to increase the amount of money it raises from foreign corporations. According to Fang, the money from those foreign corporations goes into the Chamber's general account, the same account that funds the Chamber's political ads. The Chamber says no foreign money is being used to fund political activities.

Let's get to the story that you broke this week. What did you find out about foreign contributions to the Chamber of Commerce that you think are going to fund political ads?

Mr. FANG: Well, heres what we know: on Tuesday, I broke the story. The Chamber of Commerce is very large and they set up a large network of affiliates in countries all over the world. And what we found were several fundraising documents that the Chamber has been using in places like Bahrain, India and they're sending these fundraising applications out recruiting foreign corporations, foreign businesses.

The documents say foreign companies are welcomed and they ask that these foreign businesses send money to the same campaign account, the 501(c)(6), that the Chamber is using to run attack ads. And they're telling these foreign businesses that they can have a voice in American public policy debates.

GROSS: Is that legal?

Mr. FANG: Well, it's illegal for foreign companies and foreign nationals to spend money in American elections. However, because the Chamber doesnt disclose and theyve killed every effort to force disclosure on these campaign ads, we dont know the extent of this. We dont know exactly how these funds are used. But its important to note that all these funds are comingled once they go inside this one big Chamber of Commerce campaign account. They say they have internal controls, but theyve produced no documentation, no proof, but they have admitted that they are accepting this foreign money in their campaign account that they're using against Democrats.

GROSS: Do you think that the Chamber of Commerce accepting foreign money is something that's new?

Mr. FANG: I dont know. The Chamber of Commerce recently began many of these foreign fundraising efforts. Actually, this month and last month they commissioned former Ambassador Frank Lavin to go around to foreign affiliates of the Chamber of Commerce in places like China to talk about the importance of a midterm election. I know theyve been ramping up their fundraising efforts in the UAE, in Bahrain and several other Middle Eastern countries. We do know that the Chamber of Commerce is funded by government-owned corporations like the Bahrain Petroleum Company and the State Bank of India and these stakes are very high.

GROSS: And what would their interest be in attack ads during American elections?

Mr. FANG: There are a lot of stakes. For one thing, the Chamber of Commerce lobbies very hard working often openly with foreign countries to help push free trade deals. Right now the Korea free trade deal is on the table. Democrats earlier this year tried to pass efforts to repeal special tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. The Chamber of Commerce helped Republicans in the Senate kill that bill; that's one of their largest priorities.

It's possible foreign companies are spending and giving money to the Chamber for that purpose, but again, we dont know.

GROSS: What did you learn about the Chamber of Commerce's approach to raising money in foreign countries?

Mr. FANG: Well, they're very aggressive. For example, they have an office inside their H Street building. It's across the street from the White House called the U.S.-India Business Council. It sounds like a separate entity but its not. It's actually just a part of their main organization, organized under that same 501(c)(6) tax identity. And they send out these applications to India, they set up offices to recruit foreign businesses and they promise all kinds of different services, like advocating certain public policy decisions. For example, the India Business Council says that they will fight to improve the state of manufacturing in India if Indian companies sign up.

GROSS: What does the law say about foreign funding of American political ads?

Mr. FANG: The law is very clear that foreign nationals and foreign corporations are not allowed to spend in expenditures in American political campaigns, no political advertising, nothing.

GROSS: So if youre right in your story, the Chamber of Commerce would be breaking the law.

Mr. FANG: Yes. But again, they dont disclose who is paying for these ads; although, the bank account - the campaign account, I should say, that's receiving these foreign funds is comingled with American businesses. It's all combined and then used on the $75 million massive campaign or attack campaign, I should say.

GROSS: If, as you reported, money from foreign sources is going into the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce is using some of that money for political ads, what are the dangers of that?

Mr. FANG: We dont know. This is an unforeseen era in American politics. If you have foreign government-backed businesses picking who wins and who loses elections here in America, its - I dont know if there is a great precedent for that. But its a scary future if China or another country or Saudi Arabia has a priority and they can elect candidates to achieve that priority in our government. So, you know, we dont know the extent to what the Chamber is doing but, you know, it opens the door to a lot of possibilities.

GROSS: Lee Fang, thank you so much for talking with us.

Mr. FANG: Thanks for having me.

GROSS: Lee Fang writes for ThinkProgess, the blog of the Center for American Progress. The Chamber of Commerce denies that it is using any foreign money to fund political activities in the U.S.

Senator Al Franken has called on the Federal Election Commission to investigate allegations - these allegations.