https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-collusion-isnt-a-crime-uh-not-that-i-did-any
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ALSO SEE
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/06/26/conservative-pundits-colluding-russia-isnt-crime/103204036/
Conservative pundits: Colluding with Russia isn't a 'crime
Some conservative media figures are claiming it’s not a crime for a U.S. presidential candidate to collude with the Russian government.
On Fox News Sunday, host Brit Hume said colluding with a foreign government to influence an election would “obviously be alarming and highlight inappropriate.” But, he said, “it’s not a crime.”
The investigation into Russian influence in the U.S. election “has never been described as a criminal investigation," he said. "Do we all now believe that it has now become a criminal investigation?”
A few days earlier, Fox News host Sean Hannity, an avid Trump supporter, made a similar case to his audience. Even if the Trump campaign did encourage Russia to hack former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign officials, “is that a crime?” Hannity said. “I never understood it anyway. What was the collusion? … Is that a crime to say ‘release it’? to show the truth?”
The Democratic-aligned media research group Media Matters is keeping a log of conservative pundits who’ve begun to make the case that collusion does not constitute a crime. It was their research that identified the trend, including in a tweet on Monday morning:
Brendan Karet 🚮
@bad_takes
really odd recent trend of right-wing pundits saying Collusion Is Actually Fine
The comments come as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between President Trump’s campaign associates and Russia intensifies.
Trump and his allies have insisted there is no proof of collusion between his campaign and Russian hackers who promoted fake news stories and dumped hacked emails from Clinton’s campaign chairman with the intent of trying to hurt her and help get Trump elected.
When Attorney General Jeff Sessions was asked in testimony earlier this month before the Senate Intelligence Committee if collusion would be “improper and illegal,” Sessions said: “absolutely.”
Last month, when Fox News host Greg Jarrett made the claim that collusion does not constitute a crime, PolitiFact did a fact check.
On May 30, Jarrett said "collusion is not a crime, only an antitrust law. You can collude all you want with a foreign government in an election. There's no such statute." Yet according to a PolitiFact, colluding with the Russians could break at least four different laws, including the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.
On Hannity's May 10 show, Geraldo Rivera submitted that, after speaking with Judge Napolitano, another frequent Fox guest, he had something "revolutionary" to say.
"What is the crime? If the Russian KGB chief is talking to Paul Manafort and the chief says, 'You know, I've got this dirt here that says Hillary Clinton was this or that,' and Paul Manafort says, 'Next Wednesday, why don't you release that, that'd be great for us.' That’s not – I don't know that that's a crime at all. What's the crime?" said Rivera.
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SEE RELATED
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/31/politics/donald-trump-collusion-defense-tweet/index.html
Trump repeats Giuliani defense: 'Collusion is not a crime'
https://nypost.com/2018/07/30/rudy-giuliani-collusion-is-not-a-crime/
Rudy Giuliani: Collusion is not a crime
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/07/30/rudy-giuliani-fox-news-collusion.html
Rudy Giuliani told Fox News 'collusion is not a crime'
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rudy-giuliani-collusion-not-a-crime_us_5b5f0e36e4b0b15aba9afd95
Rudy Giuliani: ‘Collusion Is Not A Crime’
“The hacking is the crime. The president didn’t hack,” President Donald Trump’s attorney said.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/399461-giuliani-collusion-is-not-a-crime
Giuliani: ‘Collusion is not a crime’
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/30/politics/rudy-giuliani-collusion-crime-cnntv/index.html
Giuliani says he's not sure collusion is a crime despite Mueller investigation
https://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/giuliani-trump-didn-t-collude-also-collusion-is-not-a-crime-1288821315916
Giuliani: Trump didn't collude. Also collusion is not a crime.
https://radio.foxnews.com/2018/07/30/fox-news-senior-judicial-analyst-judge-andrew-napolitano-on-rudy-giuliani-he-is-utterly-unworthy-of-belief/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-collusion-isnt-a-crime-uh-not-that-i-did-any
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