Posted on 06/13/2019 6:10:38 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub said Thursday it is illegal to accept foreign assistance during elections after President Trump publicly suggested he would accept foreign intelligence on opponents.
"I would not have thought that I needed to say this," Weintraub tweeted Thursday with her statement.
"Let me make something 100 percent 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 U.S. election," Weintraub said.
In an interview with ABC News Wednesday, Trump suggested he would accept dirt on an opponent offered by a foreign country.
Doubling down on why that's unconstitutional, Weintraub said "this is not a novel concept," adding that "our Founding Fathers sounded the alarm about 'foreign Interference, Intrigue, and Influence.' "
"They knew that when foreign governments seek to influence American politics, it is always to advance their own interests, not America's," she said.
Any political campaign that does receive such an offer should report it to the FBI, she added.
Trump said in the ABC interview he would "maybe go to the FBI" if he received information about an opponent from a foreign government.
Trump’s comments faced strong pushback from Democrats and some Republicans.
The FEC is an independent regulatory agency whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law. Weintraub was appointed by former President George W. Bush and has served as commissioner since 2002.
Trump better not be seen reading any foreign newspapers.
And, is this another good reason for the citizenship question on the census? Gotta know if it’s legal for pols to receive dirt.
It is hammertime...sledghammer time...I hope he floods the internet with a list of how obama and clinton should be charged. Hit back with overwhelming force...otherwise the punyboystephie interview was a mistake...but I the he’s shrewder than that.
Hillary commissioned Britisher Steele’s fake dossier.
LOCK HER UP!
The Clinton creed: "So many foreign entities to get money from...so little time to do it."
And Stephanopolis thinks said dirt should be reported to the FBI of all people? In the immortal words of John McEnroe, “YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS”!
This is exactly the public reply the POTUS was trolling for.
Now, when the SHTF, he can just point to what these morons have put out in writing.
Perkins Cole. How convenient
So, what if the information they have is Bernie Sanders spent his honeymoon in the USSR. She that be reported to the FBI?
What if someone’s kid stole oranges from a street vendor? Should that be reported?
FEC just admitted that the russiagate hoax was illegal for Hillary and Co...
I’d like to see the FEC chair provide the legal reference to his BS claim.
The key here is what the phrase “something of value” means.
I would argue it means something of *monetary* value. Not intellectual value.
Is something that’s at least potentially truthful information harmful? To whom. The US government or to the opponent in question?
I’d argue the latter. Which is not criminal! It’s only criminal if it could be harmful to the US, as a country! Not if it’s only harmful to a political opponent! How is it “criminal” to get dirt on a political opponent? “Criminal” to who, in who’s opinion? The opponent in question!?
It’s ridiculous!
More groundwork laid for when the trap door slams shut.
“Trump is setting them up.”
Yes, he is. They’re all barking mad about his statement and he is about to use it against them. He is far smarter than to just say what he did.
But, but, when Al Gore accepted Chinese money for his campaign, he said there was no legal controlling authority.
Of course, there is nothing in the statute that defines a "thing of value" to mean unsolicited information that doesn't cost anything. In fact, defining a "thing of value" to include information with no measurable monetary value is a direct violation of the First Amendment.
I’m sorry, does this mean the FEC is investigating the Steele Report?
Or does it just mean that liberals can do it with impunity, then use it to try to push through a coup?
I thought it was illegal to pay for foreign intel on an opponent. Now the dems just use our own intelligence agencies for free to spy on opponents.
Weintaub was very disingenuous setting up the straw man of receiving something of value which was not the question to Trump. The question was about receiving info on an unsolicited basis. The law does not require the President to cover his ears in such case. Nothing illegal about it and she knows that but maybe she is just stupid enough not to have a clue as to the distinction.
“So if an ambassador or foreign head sitting across from the president (in front of the press) leans over, the president has no idea what he or she is about to do, and that person whispers dirt on another candidate in Trump’s ear, that is illegal?
Huh?”
Your suppose to tell the FBI so they can spend 3 years and millions of dollars accusing people of doing things that are not verified or illegal.
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