[EL] Information as a thing of value

[Stuart McPhail]

That's right.

On Mon, Jul 17, 2017 at 10:21 AM, Hess, Doug <HESSDOUG at grinnell.edu> wrote:

> Thanks, Stuart.
>
> So, it seems to my non-attorney mind, that the distinction you make would
> mean that some of the hypotheticals used to say the law is overly broad
> don't support that conclusion. Of course, I may be presenting the
> hypotheticals incorrectly.
>
> Douglas R Hess
> Assistant Professor of Political Science
> Grinnell College
> 1210 Park Street, Carnegie Hall #309
> Grinnell, IA 50112
> phone: 641-269-4383
>
> http://www.douglasrhess.com
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stuart McPhail [mailto:smcphail at citizensforethics.org]
> Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2017 6:12 PM
> To: Hess, Doug <HESSDOUG at Grinnell.EDU>
> Cc: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> Subject: Re: [EL] Information as a thing of value
>
> One distinction is that the law only prohibits contributions - i.e.,
> benefits conferred for the purpose of influencing an election. The hypos
> you (library, preexisting report, responding to questions) list would not
> consist of information conveyed for that purpose - so they're not
> prohibited by the law.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Jul 16, 2017, at 12:41 PM, Hess, Doug <HESSDOUG at Grinnell.EDU> wrote:
> >
> > I've seen articles (Tokaji at Just Security and another in the Post by
> Volokh) make the claim that if what Trump Jr did was illegal than any
> conversation by a campaign with a non-citizen or request of information
> from another government (i.e., asking how parental leave works in Norway)
> is illegal.
> >
> > Is there a judicial doctrine or legal reason why a court cannot
> distinguish between a foreign government or foreigners actively developing
> information for a campaign versus research by a campaign or requests for
> regular materials. Surely, using a public library or asking an official for
> a report that exists or interviewing non-citizens are substantially
> different from foreign governments or foreigners actively developing a set
> of information with a strategy for its use, etc. Especially, if that
> strategy was to favor one candidate and in the interests for a subversive
> strategy by foreign policy or intelligence agencies.
> >
> > Or is that distinction not at issue?
> >
> > Douglas R Hess
> > Assistant Professor of Political Science Grinnell College
> > 1210 Park Street, Carnegie Hall #309
> > Grinnell, IA 50112
> > phone: 641-269-4383
> > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.douglasrhess.c
> > om&d=DwIFAg&c=HUrdOLg_tCr0UMeDjWLBOM9lLDRpsndbROGxEKQRFzk&r=xr_OjwGHtP
> > -zw6I-DJj_MQ4cusLbiVT1bScGa0c8ZJo&m=juOe7Lt2C6zhgctRejhoErxefv-QeBOafc
> > ksRAcukCE&s=4lPgBcClzR7hODzzrzaHxD3J4oqmK1Vy9ykBILAbzBY&e=
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Law-election mailing list
> > Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__department-2Dlists
> > .uci.edu_mailman_listinfo_law-2Delection&d=DwIFAg&c=HUrdOLg_tCr0UMeDjW
> > LBOM9lLDRpsndbROGxEKQRFzk&r=xr_OjwGHtP-zw6I-DJj_MQ4cusLbiVT1bScGa0c8ZJ
> > o&m=juOe7Lt2C6zhgctRejhoErxefv-QeBOafcksRAcukCE&s=eg3JEdaqAsC_G-ucYPtc
> > -3iHLKQHF39J0IBDVqE9eIY&e=
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20170717/7739fd07/attachment.html>