Trevor Potter Speaks to Bloomberg on Election Law

He did it again.

Over the course of a long, nasty hearing in the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr was asked about the appropriateness of foreign interference in a U.S. election. His answer should send alarms ringing across the nation. 

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In other words, there is no “it depends” clause in U.S. election law. “An in-kind contribution is ‘anything of value’ accepted by a campaign, and a foreign contribution is prohibited, period,” said former Federal Election Commission chairman Trevor Potter, who was campaign counsel to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “So soliciting a foreign source for help or accepting help or assistance knowing it is from a foreign source is illegal.” 

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As Potter said, via email, any credible lawyer would advise a political candidate not to collude with foreigners. “But if a client did it first and told the lawyer later, they would start thinking of arguments that there was at least no criminal violation — as Trump’s did.”

Trevor Potter is also a Member of the Political Law Group at Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered.

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