>> Do illegal drugs have value? Yes. If you take possession of them, have you broken the law? <<
Yep. For sure. But what if you go to meet the Russian drug dealer and he really doesn’t have any drugs. Have you still been involved in an illegal conspiracy? I simply dunno.
On the other hand, if the guy who emailed you was actually a cop in a sting operation who offered to supply child pornography and you went to meet him, you’d certainly be in big trouble even tho’ there never was any actual porn that could have changed hands.
>> Is it illegal to possess information about Russian contributions to Hillary Clinton’s campaign? <<
Mere possession would surely not seem to be illegal, unlike the case with child pornography.
But if the information had been stolen or otherwise obtained illegally, and if you knew about the theft, then your taking the info might constitute “knowlingly receiving stolen property” — not to mention possible misprison of a felony.
I can’t say what’s correct here in terms of the law. As far as I know, the rightness or wrongness may depend on which judge happens to get involved. Or it may depend mainly on the case law precedents of the state where the action occurred. But I definitely wouldn’t want to be on either side of such a matter!
Yes, that's the usual case. Outcome first, then the rationale. There are enough precedents out there to facilitate going in whatever direction a judge prefers.
I think you got my earlier point. The legality of agreeing to go along with receiving thes stuff, depends on the legality of possessing the stuff. If the material is a trade secret (and Coke employees have offered the Coke forumla to PepsiCo, this stuff happens), or illegal, then it's a crime to take it.
Your example was an illegal drug, and that example doesn't apply.