Nigel Farage Denies Involvement in Donation Scandal Amid Investigation

Nigel Farage, the prominent leader of the U.K.’s Reform party, has downplayed his involvement in a controversial donation scandal. This comes after an undercover operation where a journalist pretended to be the son of a wealthy American looking to make a donation to the party.

During an interview with CBS News’ international partner BBC News, Farage stated that he “frankly wasn’t listening” during a conversation where he was filmed alongside senior aides. Those aides, who have since resigned, appeared to discuss ways to arrange donations.

British law mandates that permissible donors to a U.K. political party must be either a U.K.-registered voter or a company. In this investigation, the son is considered a permissible donor, but the father is not.

In an interview with the BBC, Farage indicated he was preoccupied with campaigning at the time and did not know all the details from the would-be donor.

“The money could come from all over the world, you know,” Farage said. “Income could have come from all over the world into a family office based in London. I know electoral law, I know donation law better than anybody.”

Farage noted that the two aides filmed in the conversation, James Orr and Dan Jukes, had no prior experience in fundraising. A statement from the party confirmed the launch of an internal investigation. Orr and Jukes have vacated their roles pending its outcome.

Dan Jukes, a key figure close to Farage, is widely regarded as his right-hand man. Orr was serving as Reform’s head of policy until his recent resignation. Both assert their innocence.

Farage maintained the party’s compliance with the law during a radio interview early Friday.

“The party has not taken any dodgy money or anything like that whatsoever,” he told LBC Radio. “However, it is a clear case of entrapment, and they worked very hard at it. They managed to get a couple of our contractors to say things that shouldn’t have been said. As a result, they’ve been removed this morning.”

Jukes issued a statement to BBC News labeling the report at the center of the scandal as “entrapment over a prolonged period of nearly a year by foreign-funded climate change activists.”

“I totally deny any wrongdoing but have stepped back from politics to clear my name,” Jukes expressed.

In a statement to Sky News, Orr affirmed his decision to leave Reform UK temporarily. “I have agreed to step down from my current role at Reform UK pending the outcome of the party’s internal investigation into the conduct of the program, with which I will cooperate fully.”