Russia and our election

[Dill]

(07-11-2017, 03:15 PM)Au165 Wrote: A foreign national shall not, directly or indirectly, make a contribution or a donation of money or other thing of value, or expressly or impliedly promise to make a contribution or a donation, in connection with any Federal, State, or local election.


Other thing of value. There is value outside of monetary value and that is a real option here. He obviously valued it because he felt the need to acquire it. You can pretend it is "fake news" but even Fox News is being really frank about how bad this is.

The law pretty much specifies contributions of FUNGIBLE value, things which can be priced and exchanged for money.  If a foreigner owns a hotel and donates rooms to the campaign for a week, that would count as a "contribution."   One cannot donate or price fresh air, hugs, or pancake syrup (once out of the bottle) as leonard listed. One cannot exchange them for money or other goods and services.

Also, the recipient has to KNOW the gift is from a foreigner, and show due diligence in sourcing contributions.

Dirt on Hillary might have a monetary value for some journalists or Trump supporters, but it is not really a market value.  It could not be considered logistical support the way hotel rooms or airline tickets or donated "Make America Great" hats could.