I keep hearing that the now-verified/admitted meeting with the Russian lawyer (understood by the Trump campaign to be an agent of the Kremlin) between TrumpJr, Kushner and Manafort is of no legal consequence. That’s all. No support for the naked conclusion, but that’s the talking point.
To recap, the story appears to be thus: Goldstone reaches out to TrumpJr and tells him that he can arrange a meeting with a “crown prosecutor†of Russia who has damaging information regarding Hillary Clinton.
I’ll offer the disclaimer that I’m no federal prosecutor, but I can read statutes and the narrative appears to violate various provisions of the US Code. Specifically, the following:
I. In corresponding with the “crown prosecutor†through Goldstone, the Trump campaign (through its agents) engaged in illegal private correspondence with a foreign government.
18 USC §953. Private correspondence with foreign governments
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply, himself or his agent, to any foreign government or the agents thereof for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.
II. In falsifying (or “forgetting†multiple times) their paperwork and/or in their sworn statements before Congress regarding their contact with the foreign government. Trump campaign agents apparently violated TWO statutes:
18 USC §954. False statements influencing foreign government
Whoever, in relation to any dispute or controversy between a foreign government and the United States, willfully and knowingly makes any untrue statement, either orally or in writing, under oath before any person authorized and empowered to administer oaths, which the affiant has knowledge or reason to believe will, or may be used to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government, or of any officer or agent of any foreign government, to the injury of the United States, or with a view or intent to influence any measure of or action by the United States or any department or agency thereof, to the injury of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
18 USC §1621. Perjury generally
Whoever-
(1) having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed, is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true; or
(2) in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code, willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe to be true;
is guilty of perjury and shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by law, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. This section is applicable whether the statement or subscription is made within or without the United States.
III. Anyone in the campaign who “coached†their testimony violating the two statutes
above or who advised on the information contained in their disclosures may have violated this one:
18 USC §1622. Subornation of perjury
Whoever procures another to commit any perjury is guilty of subornation of perjury, and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
IV. If the discussion was about trading on emails illegally obtained from Hillary Clinton in her official capacity as Sec State then this statute was probably violated (and the downstream purchasers would be involved in a criminal conspiracy…regardless of efficacy of the transaction):
18 USC §1361. Government property or contracts
Whoever willfully injures or commits any depredation against any property of the United States, or of any department or agency thereof, or any property which has been or is being manufactured or constructed for the United States, or any department or agency thereof, or attempts to commit any of the foregoing offenses, shall be punished as follows:
If the damage or attempted damage to such property exceeds the sum of $1,000, by a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both; if the damage or attempted damage to such property does not exceed the sum of $1,000, by a fine under this title or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
V. Finally, even if the emails were not exchanged, the express promise to make a contribution of a thing of value (the promise to deliver the Hillary emails) violates this one (with bonus definitions!):
52 USC §30121. Contributions and donations by foreign nationals
(a) Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for-
(1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make-
(A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election;
(B) a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or
(C) an expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication (within the meaning of section 30104(f)(3) of this title); or
(2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national.
(b) "Foreign national" defined
As used in this section, the term "foreign national" means-
(1) a foreign principal, as such term is defined by section 611(b) of title 22, except that the term "foreign national" shall not include any individual who is a citizen of the United States; or
(2) an individual who is not a citizen of the United States or a national of the United States (as defined in section 1101(a)(22) of title 8) and who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined by section 1101(a)(20) of title 8.
22 USC §611. Definitions
As used in and for the purposes of this subchapter-
(a) The term "person" includes an individual, partnership, association, corporation, organization, or any other combination of individuals;
(b) The term "foreign principal" includes-
(1) a government of a foreign country and a foreign political party;
(2) a person outside of the United States, unless it is established that such person is an individual and a citizen of and domiciled within the United States, or that such person is not an individual and is organized under or created by the laws of the United States or of any State or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and has its principal place of business within the United States; and
(3) a partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons organized under the laws of or having its principal place of business in a foreign country.
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