Following the United States Department of Justice filing suits related to 1MDB, social media has been abuzz about how the Malaysian government is allegedly brokering a deal with US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The allegation, circulated via Whatsapp as well, claimed that a prominent Malaysian lawyer is involved in negotiating a massive contribution of US$500 million for Clinton’s campaign in exchange for non-prosecution.

A pro-Umno portal rubbished this allegation and blamed whistleblower website Sarawak Report for spinning a lie.

However, a check by Malaysiakini did not find any article in connection with the issue in Sarawak Report.

“This is indeed a case of international humour,” said MyKMU.net.

“Why should (Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) pay close to RM2 billion to Clinton when he is not even connected to the DOJ suits, his name does not exist (in the documents).

“Secondly, why pay Clinton when it is not even certain she will win, what if (Donald) Trump wins the (presidential elections)? Thirdly, where is the proof?” asked the portal.

Taking a swipe at former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, MyKMU said he is the only one in the history of this nation who paid millions to work with the US president.

“The people must understand facts. RM2 billion is not a small sum for Najib to pay for something where the end result is not certain.

“What is more important is that in the DOJ filings, apart from the source being Mahathir’s minions, the aim is to seize assets from the four individuals mentioned - Najib is not one of them,” it added.

The portal said the latest allegation could be a failsafe measure for the detractors if it is proven that Najib was not involved in the 1MDB scandal.

Malaysiakini has contacted the prominent lawyer mentioned in the allegation and the Foreign Ministry for comment and is awaiting their response.

Though the DOJ filings did not mention Najib, repeated references were however made to one ‘Malaysian Official 1', whom detractors claim is the prime minister.

The DOJ had named Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz and Malaysian-born businessman Jho Low, who is said to be close to the prime minister’s family.

According to US federal law, the committee of an election candidate can only receive a maximum of US$2,700 from an individual and US$5,000 from organisations per election.

An exception are independent-expenditure only committees, better known as Super PACs, which can receive unlimited funding.

However, Super PACs are barred from directly contributing to a candidate's campaign but might support a candidate by running a separate and independent campaign.

Both forms of funding must be declared.

According to transparency watchdog opensecrets.org, between January 2015 to May 2016, Clinton raised US$313.9 million for her presidential bid with 73 percent coming from ordinary donors and 27 percent raised by Super PACs supporting her.

In contrast, Republican candidate Trump raised US$65.3 million in the same period with US$43.5 million coming out of his own pocket.

It is illegal to receive foreign funding.

Najib has repeatedly denied abusing public funds for personal gain, and blamed such allegations on Mahathir and those conspiring to topple him from power.

Attorney-general Mohamad Apandi Ali has also cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing.