It's illegal for foreign nationals to fund domestic elections. Don't participate in a conspiracy to influence domestic US elections by funding or directing them. It's pretty simple.
It's rather hard for the government to make these charges stick, which is why there are so few prosecutions for this. So if someone's formally charged, they done goofed. Presumption of innocence aside, the government isn't going to move on this case unless there's compelling evidence it happened.
So you gonna show me where the law carves out specific countries?
(4) Foreign election interference
The term “foreign election interference” means conduct by a foreign person that—
(A)
(i) violates Federal criminal, voting rights, or campaign finance law; or
(ii) is performed by any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of, or in coordination with, a foreign government or criminal enterprise; and
(B) includes any covert, fraudulent, deceptive, or unlawful act or attempted act, or knowing use of information acquired by theft, undertaken with the specific intent to significantly influence voters, undermine public confidence in election processes or institutions, or influence, undermine confidence in, or alter the result or reported result of, a general or primary Federal, State, or local election or caucus, including—
(i) the campaign of a candidate; or
(ii) a ballot measure, including an amendment, a bond issue, an initiative, a recall, a referral, or a referendum.
> is performed by any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of, or in coordination with, a foreign government or criminal enterprise
I think the disconnect is that some orgs that people might think work on behalf of a foreign govt aren't registered as such because they don't receive funding from there, like AIPAC. This has been a contentious topic.
It's rather hard for the government to make these charges stick, which is why there are so few prosecutions for this. So if someone's formally charged, they done goofed. Presumption of innocence aside, the government isn't going to move on this case unless there's compelling evidence it happened.