[Democrats rebuke Trump for saying he would consider taking foreign opposition research]George Washington, the nation’s first president, warned of the “insidious wiles of foreign influence” as he left office in 1796. Opposition research is clearly something of value,” said Larry Noble, a former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission. “If a campaign tells a foreign government it would accept opposition research they’ve gathered, it is soliciting a foreign contribution, which is illegal. “The Trump campaign could have legally paid a foreign national to collect opposition research on Clinton. Stevens said he worries that Republican candidates, forced to defend Trump, will now believe they too could accept foreign assistance or benefit from stolen material.

Source: Washington Post June 13, 2019 23:15 UTC