traderdave wrote:thephan wrote:And here is,what he saidIn an excerpt from an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos published on Wednesday, the president pushed back when asked whether a candidate should report information on an opponent if it came from a foreign agent, and denied that accepting the information counted as election interference.
“It’s not an interference, they have information — I think I’d take it,” Trump said. “If I thought there was something wrong, I’d go maybe to the FBI — if I thought there was something wrong.”
“It’s called oppo research,” he added.
Is it possible to overstate the significance of this? In my mind, not only did Trump pimp himself out, he has immediately created doubt regarding the validity of the 2020 election (especially if he, God forbid, wins). I mean, to Dorn's point, when is somebody going to step up and stop this maniac (non violently)?
I'm sure there are plenty of people that assume that, if Trump says he would do it, it's probably not illegal. Because what kind of idiot would just admit that they would break the law if given the opportunity? "Hey, if the cashier leaves the register, of course I'd reach in to swoop up some twenties. I'd be a fool not to. It's not my responsibility to keep the register secure."
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/07/63642358 ... n-research
CHANG: First, can you just tell us, what does the law say about a campaign gathering or soliciting information from foreign nationals?
BAUER: The law prohibits, as a baseline point, foreign nationals from attempting to influence elections with any kind of spending. And that includes spending for anything of value to a campaign. It also prohibits campaigns from aiding them in the effort to influence an election or soliciting that support.
CHANG: It seems like a lot in this law, then, hinges on the definition of the words of value. What have courts or the Federal Election Commission said about what constitutes something of value?
BAUER: It's a very broad term. It's exactly what it's intended to be. It means anything of value to the campaign that the campaign deems important that it might otherwise have to spend resources itself to acquire.
