Rich Miller at Capitol Fax has the scoop:

Kirk campaign held "Beijing fundraiser" day before tax loophole vote Congressman Mark Kirk’s US Senate campaign has been plagued by strange internal leaks for months. And now we have one that includes a plan for a "Bejing fundraiser," which was held the day before a House vote to close tax loopholes for companies that send jobs out of the country. The latest leak is the internal agenda of a mid-May Kirk campaign finance meeting. Click here to read it. Pay close attention to the May 27th event: Bejing FR. "FR" is a standard campaign abbreviation for "fundraiser." * The Kirk campaign says that the candidate held a "Skype" fundraising meeting with American businesspeople in Beijing, China. I’m told that 12 people participated in the event. FEC records show that Geoffrey Enck contributed $1,000 to Kirk that day. Enck is the CEO of ITI China Holdings. One of the things the company does is investment banking for Chinese manufacturing plants.

* And then the next day, Kirk voted "No" on a bill to close a tax loopholes that would prevent companies from "using current U.S. foreign tax credit rules to subsidize their foreign activities."

This cannot be overstated enough: the very next day after his self-labeled "Beijing fundraiser," Mark Kirk voted against closing the tax loopholes that encourage corporations to ship American jobs overseas to countries like China.

We know that no entity fought harder against closing those loopholes than the U.S. Chamber. The Chamber is already embroiled in a controversy regarding solicitation of foreign funds and has spent $2 million on behalf of Kirk in this race (as of this morning).

This news can't be good for Mark Kirk in light of his last "China" controversy. He was caught on tape bragging about the fact that he told the Chinese government not to trust America's budget numbers (video here).

We'll update you with more news as we get it on this developing story...

- GeorgiaDirector of New MediaAlexi for Illinois

Update [2010-10-20 14:15:33 by Alexi for Illinois]:: News is breaking fast here on the ground. While we sort it out, here's MoveOn's ad calling out the U.S. Chamber (who is spending millions for Kirk) on soliciting money from overseas:

[UPDATE #2]: Alexi was just on Hardball talking about the focus of his campaign: JOBS. The choice couldn't be clearer. Alexi will fight for American jobs right here at home, while Kirk is trying to get a Senate job by holding a "Beijing Fundraiser." We'll have video soon.

And we just released a new TV ad with President Obama talking about how Alexi stoop up for Illinois workers:

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