The last US ambassador to Ireland, Mr Richard Egan, a major backer of President Bush's re-election campaign, has made a financial contribution to independent candidate Ralph Nader, whom Republicans hope will siphon off votes from the Democratic Party.
New figures released by the Federal Elections Commission show Mr Egan, his son and his daughter-in-law have given Nader the maximum donations allowable under US law.
Mr Egan, a self-made billionaire through his EMC computer company in Massachusetts, was a major contributor to the Bush election campaign in 2000 and was appointed ambassador to Ireland by the Bush administration. He stayed in the job for 18 months before resigning, citing frustration with the slowness of diplomatic life.
He has also resigned as the head of the EMC corporation but is still a member of the board of directors.
Last year, Mr Egan threw a re-election fundraiser at his home attended by vice-president Mr Dick Cheney. The Egans, now known in the Republican Party as the "First Family of Fundraising", are reportedly the only US family that has three members who have raised more than $200,000 (€161,767) each for Bush's re-election campaign.
Federal Election Commission figures released to The Irish Times show Egan and his son John contributed $2,000 each to the Nader campaign in April - the maximum allowed under tough new campaign reform law. The FEC figures also show John Egan's wife, Pamela, contributed $2,000 in March.
Nader spokesman Mr Kevin Zeese confirmed to The Irish Times that the campaign had received money from Mr Egan but said he did not know if Mr Egan had encouraged other Bush corporate donors to do the same. Mr Zeese said the Nader camp would accept money from anyone who disagreed with the Democratic Party's harassment of Mr Nader's campaign. He accused the Democrats of using pedantic legal arguments to keep the campaign out of key states. He welcomed contributions from people dismayed by the Democrats' tactics.
Asked if he believed Mr Egan was giving money to the campaign for Mr Nader's sake, Mr Zeese said he did not know Mr Egan's motives but said that Republicans had constituted 25 per cent of Nader's vote in the 2000 presidential election. Mr Nader's candidacy was considered a factor in President Bush's election as he drained liberal votes from Democratic candidate, Mr Al Gore.