Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft speaks to reporters on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, at his Capitol office in Jefferson City, Mo. Ashcroft supported legislation signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson that will require a photo identification to cast a regular ballot. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

Reports show that Missouri Republican gubernatorial candidate Jay Ashcroft took $20,000 in campaign gifts in 2016 from donor Toufic Baaklini, who later admitted to illegally funneling foreign money to U.S. candidates from a Nigerian-born billionaire.

According to a disclosure report from the Missouri Ethics Commission, Ashcroft accepted two $10,000 donations for his secretary of state campaign in October 2016, one from Baaklani and one from his wife Nada Nassar.

In 2021, Baaklini was investigated by the Department of Justice and admitted to accepting $50,000 from and making illegal campaign contributions on behalf of Nigerian-born billionaire Gilbert Chagoury. Chagoury reportedly has ties to former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and the terrorist group Hezbollah.

One of the politicians Baaklini contributed to was U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), who was later convicted in 2021 of three counts of lying to the FBI and concealing information about the donations.

In 2022, federal judge Stanley Blumenfeld sentenced Fortenberry to two years of probation, 320 hours of community service and a fine of $25,000. Fortenberry resigned from Congress in March 2022, although the sentence was overturned last December.

The Missouri Ethics Commission report does not state whether Baaklini’s donation to Ashcroft used Chagoury’s money or not.

In May, Ashcroft denied having any relationships with foreign governments or individuals during an appearance on “The Gary Nolan Show” on June 5. When a caller asked about his family’s ties to foreign governments impacting his ability to govern, Ashcroft claimed to not have relationships with foreign people or governments.

“I think the only relationships I’ve had with foreign governments or foreign individuals is honorary counsel,” Ashcroft said. “Or like the general counsel of Israel came to meet with me in my official capacity as Missouri Secretary of State. I… uh. Sorry, I live in Missouri, Missouri is where I’m focused, and I don’t have relationships with foreign governments or foreign lobbyists or anything like that. I don’t know where that comes from.”

The donations made to Ashcroft’s secretary of state campaign came just weeks before Missouri voters passed a constitutional amendment to limit individual campaign donations to $2,600, which was opposed by Republicans like Ashcroft’s gubernatorial opponent Bill Eigel. Ashcroft’s father John served in Missouri politics for decades before becoming the U.S. attorney general in the George W. Bush administration and later a lobbyist and consultant. Five weeks before Baaklini made his donations to Jay Ashcroft’s campaign, John Ashcroft spoke at an event for Baaklini’s In Defense of Christians organization.

Jay Ashcroft is seeking the Republican nomination in Missouri’s gubernatorial election, which will be determined in the Aug. 6 primary election.