bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

After three years of scandal over Russia's interference in America's 2016 election, US President Donald Trump drew a storm of criticism for saying he would not tell the FBI if a foreign country offered him dirt on an opponent.
Even after Trump backed off Friday and said he would indeed notify law enforcement, his manoeuvring still raised questions about what's legal and what's not when it comes to foreign influence in US elections.




What exactly did Trump say?
In an ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday, Trump was asked whether his son Donald Trump Jnr should have contacted the FBI after receiving an email promising incriminating information from the Russian government about Trump's 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton.
“Give me a break – life doesn't work that way,” the president said.
“There's nothing wrong with listening.”
Reminded by Stephanopoulos that FBI Director Christopher Wray has urged anyone in similar situations to notify the FBI, Trump snapped: “The FBI director is wrong”.
Trump backtracked Friday after fellow Republicans warned he was inviting Russian meddling in the 2020 election.
“I'd report it to law enforcement, absolutely,” he told Fox News.
What does the law say?
The federal law on attempts by foreigners to influence US elections is fairly straightforward.
It is “unlawful for a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a federal, state or local election.”
It's also illegal for a campaign to “solicit, accept or receive” anything of value from a foreigner.
That applies not just to money, but also to such things as donated furniture, said Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
The definition of a “thing of value” can be open to interpretation, however.
Foreigners can volunteer for a campaign, for instance, but can't be paid, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat who chairs the FEC, issued a statement, saying: “Let me make something 100 per cent clear to the American public and anyone running for public office. It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a US election.”

Does receiving ‘dirt’ on an opponent count?
Daniel Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University, said he did not believe so.
“My view is that an in-kind contribution has to have some determinate economic value,” he said.
Brad Smith, a law professor at Capital University in Ohio and a former FEC chairman, agreed, saying that conversations with foreign nationals are not unlawful. But if those talks involve a foreign government agent going out and spending money to compile information on a candidate's behalf, it could be, he said.
In his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, special counsel Robert Mueller found that opposition research – on which campaigns often spend substantial sums – could be construed as a “thing of value” covered by the foreign donation ban.
Trump told ABC that if you “talk honestly to congressmen, they all do it, they always have. And that's the way it is”.
Levitt, of Loyola Law School, said the president's admission opens the door to foreign governments interfering in future elections, starting with next year's US presidential race.
“This is far less about what happened and far more about real concern about what the president is seeking, and what other entities will do going forward,” he said.
Is everybody else really doing it?
Not according to members of Congress.
Illinois Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi told CNN: “I have not met a congressman, Democrat or Republican, who's said that they've ever done this.”
On Wednesday, New Jersey Democratic Representative Tom Malinowski introduced the Anti-Collusion Act, which would require individuals running for office to report offers of help from foreign powers.

Have campaigns gone to the FBI in the past?
During the interview, Stephanopoulos brought up the example of Al Gore's campaign receiving a debate prep book stolen from the campaign of George W. Bush, his opponent in the 2000 presidential election.
The Gore campaign turned the materials over to the FBI.
But the situation isn't comparable, Trump replied. Smith, the former Republican FEC chairman, agreed.
“If you get a confidential document, that you know has been either stolen or leaked in violation of confidentiality privileges, I could see that being a very different reaction,” Smith said.
Nonetheless, Smith found Trump's remarks troubling.
“I think it's legitimate for Americans to be concerned that the president is perhaps too cavalier about foreign sources,” he said.
Was it legal for Trump and his aides to welcome Russian help in 2016?
In 2016, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, his campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump's son, Donald Trump Jnr, met with Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in New York. They'd been promised derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, though nothing useful emerged from the meeting.
Bob Bauer, White House counsel to President Barack Obama, wrote last year that the conditions of the meeting suggested there was a violation of federal campaign laws.
“The Russians did not merely offer information, plucked from the sky: In the first place, they had to have procured it,” and gathering the material likely meant spending money, he wrote in a 2018 post. “Both the material they proposed to provide and the expenses associated with creating and arranging to deliver it raise the serious question of in-kind contributions to the campaign.”
Mueller weighed whether to charge Trump Jnr, Kushner and Manafort with violating the ban on foreign contributions.
He ultimately declined to bring charges because investigators did not find enough evidence to show the men had “knowingly and wilfully” taken information from a foreigner, and they could not establish its value.


What Hong Kong travellers stuck in the Middle East need to do as war spirals

From fireworks to racing, how Hong Kong is celebrating the Year of the Horse

A beginner’s guide to watching Hong Kong martial arts movies, and why realism doesn’t matter

Blooming good: where to find cherry blossoms in Hong Kong this spring

Explainers

Donald Trump said it’s OK to get campaign dirt from foreigners. Is that legal?

US President Donald Trump sought to clarify his comments that he would accept dirt on election rivals from a foreign power, now saying he would ‘absolutely’ report such an encounter to US authorities. Photo: AP

In this July 11, 2017, photo, Natalia Veselnitskaya speaks to journalists in Moscow, Russia. The Russian lawyer at the center of the June 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr. is known for her work trying to roll back U.S. sanctions on Russia. But Veselnitskaya was on the radar of American officials long before revelations about the meeting emerged. Government and legal documents show officials have tried to seize her emails and at times denied her entry into the U.S.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

(FILES) This file photo taken on July 19, 2016 shows Donald Trump, Jr., speaking on the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Donald Trump Jr. admitted on July 10, 2017, to meeting a Russian lawyer in a bid to get dirt on his father's 2016 rival Hillary Clinton, plunging the White House into another Russia-related scandal. Trump Jr., confirmed reports that he was seeking compromising information on Clinton when he met Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON

‘I’d want to hear it’: Donald Trump welcomes dirt from foreign countries on political opponents

US President Donald Trump. Photo: EPA

Donald Trump: can the great salesman sell America on giving him a second term?

US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, smiles during a campaign event at Clinton Community College in Clinton, Iowa, U.S., on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. Biden expressed concern about the format of the first Democratic presidential debates, saying that having 20 candidates face off over two nights means there will be little depth to the events. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Developer Donald Trump takes the stage to announce that he will seek the Republican nomination for president, Tuesday, June 16, 2015, in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Tuesday, June 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Donald Trump considers himself a legendary salesman, but can he really sell America on giving him four more drama-filled years at the White House? Photo: AP

US election 2020: Trump campaign dumps pollsters after leak showed Joe Biden lead in key states

Privately, the US president was livid that the numbers leaked out, according to White House and campaign officials. Photo: EPA

DAVENPORT, IA - JUNE 11: Former vice president and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden laughs as greets attendees during a campaign event on June 11, 2019 in Davenport, Iowa. Biden and over two dozen presidential candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump during the 2020 general election. Joshua Lott/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 12, 2019 US President Donald Trump sits alongside Kellyanne Conway (L), Counselor to the President, during a meeting on the opioid epidemic in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC. - A US watchdog agency recommended on June 13, 2019 that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway be fired, saying the close aide to President Donald Trump repeatedly violated a law restricting political activity during her official work. The White House swiftly responded by calling the process "blatantly unfair" and demanding the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) retract its "outrageous" recommendation. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

A nationwide Fox News poll released Sunday shows US President Donald Trump trailing former vice-president Joe Biden and no fewer than four other Democratic contenders as early campaigning for the 2020 election begins to gain steam. Photo: AFP

News

World

United States & Canada

Here’s what’s legal and what’s not when it comes to foreign influence in US elections


Here’s what’s legal and what’s not when it comes to foreign influence in US elections.


US presidential election 2020

Donald Trump

Trump-Russia collusion investigations

Donald Trump said it’s OK to get campaign dirt from foreigners. Is that legal?

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Here’s what’s legal and what’s not when it comes to foreign influence in US elections

What exactly did Trump say?

Here’s what’s legal and what’s not when it comes to foreign influence in US elections