The media and special counsel have been taking a beating from the right for not paying as much attention to the Steele dossier as a potential violation of the law and the sanctity of the election as the Trump/Russia end of things. 1/x
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The flow of money/services matters a lot. If a campaign pays for information, it is not a contribution to the campaign (in kind or otherwise). 4/x
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If, on the other hand, a campaign is given aid by a foreign principal, government or entity without payment, that can be considered an illegal in-kind contribution (which could be the case with Russian efforts to help Trump win). 5/x
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We still don't have a fully definitive answer as to what the Trump campaign and its officials knew about Russian efforts to assist the campaign, which is why it's important to report on both the underlying connections and what Mueller and his team see in them. 6/x
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We also don't know for sure what Mueller knows about any possible attempts to obstruct justice, which is why it's important to continue to report on that 7/x
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Even if what Steele and Fusion GPS and the FBI and the DNC and the Clinton campaign and others did violates some law, that doesn't obviate the investigation into the activity of the president and his family and staff. 8/x
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Foreign influence in U.S. elections and policy-making is a serious matter because both dilute the power of each American voter and because the latter tends to move the U.S. away from acting in its own interests and toward those of foreign interests, which necessarily differ. 9/x
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The abuse of FARA registration is exactly the kind of swamp-draining that should have happened a long time ago for the reason stated above. It's the definition of unpatriotic, and it deserves scrutiny by media because it's scandalous and prosecutors because it's illegal. 10/x
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Just because the media ignored a scandal in its sight and the Justice Department has generally viewed FARA as too difficult to enforce because of its self-reporting requirement, that doesn't mean it's something that should always be ignored. 11/x
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People in the president's orbit, including his first NatSec adviser, have pleaded guilty to crimes. It's not only appropriate for the special counsel to conduct a thorough investigation — and for media to report on that probe as well as things outside it — it's vital 12/x
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Fortunately, in this country the government doesn't control what is reported and there are any number of outlets that pursue different angles of a story, which means Steele dossier questions have been raised alongside the allegations of Trump conspiracy and obstruction. 13/x
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But, back to the earlier point, conspiracy to hire a foreigner to do campaign work is simply not a crime, nor is it unusual or scandalous. Rudy was right: It's normal to get dirt. But not in furtherance of a foreign government's plot to throw an election or to aid a campaign.14/x
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It is illegal. Cambridge Analytica was a subsidiary of English company (SCL group) that was incorporated in the US as a way around the law against foreign influence however even then its illegal. Robert Mercer and Steve Bannon were involved so maybe that helped FEC approve.
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