OH, it was valuable political opposition research then?
>law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/11/110.20
>52 U.S.C. 30121, 36 U.S.C. 510
>(b)Contributions and donations by foreign nationals in connection with elections. 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.
>(g)Solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of contributions and donations from foreign nationals. No person shall knowingly solicit, accept, or receive from a foreign national any contribution or donation prohibited by paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section.
What qualifies as solicitation under the act?
>A communication that provides instructions on how or where to send contributions or donations
Now lets look at Trump Jr's email chain:
>offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary
>Trump Jr: Great. It will likely be Paul Manafort (campaign boss) my brother in law (Jared Kushner) and me. 725 Fifth Ave 25th floor.
Trump Jr sent an email (a communication) to provide instructions on when and where to meet (a solicitation under the act) for foreign nationals to donate "Political Opposition Research" including "some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary" (a thing of value) to "the Trump campaign"
Trump Jr also forwarded the whole email chain to Kushner and Manafort prior to the meeting, which they MUST have read to discover the time and place of the meeting, and which they attended.
>B-but "muh information" isn't a thing of value!!!!
The Federal Election Committee already ruled (saos.fec.gov/aodocs/2007-22.pdf) in an advisory opinion that the provision even of "printed materials" of "nominal value" by foreign nationals would violate the act.