Activist's N.H. video leads to Sanders fine for OK'ing Aussies' help in 2016 primary

An article about the meddling during 2016 N.H. primary campaign in The Sydney Morning Herald, an Australian newspaper; inset U.S. Bernie Sanders. (Courtesy images)

NEW YORK - The 2016 presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has agreed to pay a $14,500 civil penalty to the FEC for foreign government election meddling, a Project Veritas press release announced on Wednesday.

The fine was the result of a complaint filed by former New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O'Brien regarding a Project Veritas Action hidden-camera video exposing the Australian Labor Party colluding with the Sanders campaign during the New Hampshire 2016 primary.

The video, which received widespread attention from Australian media outlets, has yet to be covered by any U.S. mainstream outlets, while the "Russia-Trump collusion" narrative, on the other hand, has received nearly unprecedented media coverage.

The Australians worked on Sanders' campaign in New Hampshire during the presidential primary and received free housing and $24,422 for airfare and daily stipends. The payments were considered foreign contributions, which violates U.S. law.

Sanders' campaign paid the fine "without admitting liability" to avoid a "long and expensive fight." However, he said the campaign did not "agree that it broke any rules."

The video, released in 2016, showed Bernie Sanders staffers in New Hampshire and Nevada explaining that the Australian Labor Party used taxpayer dollars to send the staffers to help elect the Sanders. According to the FEC agreement, this means the ALP made "prohibited foreign contributions" to the Sanders campaign.

In one of the undercover videos an Aussie brags about stealing a Trump sign.

WMUR's John DiStaso also wrote about the Sanders-FEC agreement:

"In separate agreements filed on Feb. 14, the FEC writes that by paying the youths' transportation costs and stipends, the party made an illegal contribution to a U.S. political campaign and the Sanders campaign broke the law by accepting paid services by the Australians."

The "Not for Sale" candidate Sanders was known to complain about Hillary Clinton's financial ties to foreign entities and overseas connections on the campaign trail.

Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe was quick to weigh in on Wednesday.

"Now that Project Veritas Action has uncovered undisputable video evidence that a foreign government illegally interfered with the 2016 presidential election, will the mainstream media finally cover it?"

To see a video on the fine click here.