Could This Obscure 1990 FEC Opinion Prove That Trump Jr. Committed a Crime? It Just Might.
by Rachel Stockman | 12:37 pm, July 11th, 2017
As the chorus to condemn and convict Donald Trump Jr. of a crime based on his meeting with the Russian lawyer grows louder, I have been skeptical that there is any “there there.” Much of the legal analysis has been based on innuendo and some creative interpretation of the law. Trump Jr. committed treason? I don’t think so. Major stretch. Collusion? Actually, there is technically no such federal law.
However, the most compelling argument I’ve seen thus far is that Trump Jr. might be violating a campaign finance law that prohibits a campaign from soliciting “anything of value … in connection with” an election from a foreign national. But even that is stretch. Why? Because traditionally “in-kind contributions” (i.e. non-monetary contributions) are thought to be things like office furniture, event space, and computers. Would trying to solicit Clinton dirt from a Russian (who Trump Jr. apparently thought was coming from the Russian government) count as anything of value? I didn’t think so at first.
However, this 1990 advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission is pretty damning for Trump Jr. The opinion was in response to a candidate running for New York’s 22nd Congressional district. He wanted to use poll information paid for by his friend as part of his campaign, and wanted to know if mere information counted as in-kind contribution. The FEC said, yes. The opinion said this:
<< If, however, Mr. Hochberg (his friend) imparts poll result information to you or anyone else working for your campaign, including any data or any analysis of the results, or if he uses the poll information to advise your campaign on matters such as campaign strategy or creating media messages, such poll information will constitute an in-kind contribution from Mr. Hochberg to your campaign, and an expenditure in an equal amount by your committee. 11 CFR 106.4(b). >>
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