Trump Willing to Accept Research on His Political Opponents From Foreign Countries

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Trump being interviewed by George Stephanopoulos

President Donald Trump was asked by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos yesterday whether his campaign would accept damaging information against his 2020 rivals from foreigners – such as China or Russia – or report such an offer to the FBI.

Trump said, “I think you might want to listen, there isn’t anything wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country [and said] ‘we have information on your opponent’ – oh, I think I’d want to hear it.” The answer should have been an emphatic no.

In the interview, Trump suggested that there is nothing wrong with a foreign government providing an American candidate information on a political opponent.

This is a disturbing response, which demonstrates a shocking lack of concern about the harm of foreign interference in American elections.

By indicating his willingness to consider accepting opposition research from foreigners, President Trump is opening the door even wider to foreign meddling in the 2020 election, and demonstrating that he has learned nothing from 2016.

When foreign governments or citizens intervene in American elections to help a candidate, they may well seek something in return. At a minimum, they are acting in their own interests, not ours.

The Mueller report concluded that opposition research is a “thing of value” subject to a ban that outlaws soliciting a contribution from a foreign citizen.

As Mueller explained, “a foreign entity that engaged in [opposition] research and provided resulting information to a campaign could exert a greater effect on an election, and a greater tendency to ingratiate the donor to the candidate, than a gift of money or tangible things of value.”

Mueller determined that Donald Trump Jr. setting up a meeting to accept “high level and sensitive” opposition research from a foreign government could violate federal law.

With the Mueller report now public, President Trump and other candidates are on notice that soliciting or accepting valuable foreign intelligence for domestic campaign purposes violates the law.

To learn more about this topic, read CLC’s report: What Special Counsel Mueller’s Report Tells Us About Campaign Finance Law And Foreign Interference

Corey handles media relations for the CLC voting rights and redistricting teams and creates online content. Follow @cgfromdc on Twitter