Donald Trump publicly asks Russia to obtain more of Hillary Clinton’s emails, making him the first known presidential candidate in American history to encourage another country’s interference against an opponent’s campaign.
“I will tell you this, Russia: If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” the Republican nominee said at a news conference in Florida. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
His request is denounced as an outrageous attack on national security by members of both parties and the Intelligence community. For some reason, however, these figures neglect to mention that his actions are a violation of U.S. law.
Federal campaign finance law prohibits any person from soliciting campaign contributions, defined as anything of value to be given to influence an election, from a foreign national, including a foreign government.
In asking Russia to find Clinton’s emails, presidential candidate Trump violated this statutory prohibition on seeking help from a foreign country to influence an election. Trump in essence called on a foreign adversary to locate and release something that was of great value to him and his campaign.
USA Today
Sources
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-putin-no-relationship-226282
Photo: Nathan Congleton
