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Trump Offers to Industry for Campaign Finance Contribution(s) (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 months ago by alphanerd4@lemmy.world to c/usauthoritarianism@lemmy.world
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[-] sxan@midwest.social 33 points 5 months ago

How are campaign promises that result in contributions not considered quid pro quo bribery? I know it's hard to prove cause and effect in these cases, but surely situations like this must be among the easiest to prosecute..

Sure, there's no "quox part yet, but you can still go to jail for hiring an assassin even if the assassination isn't attempted.

[-] Xuderis@lemmy.world 5 points 5 months ago

Political donations by corporations are considered free speech.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding campaign finance laws and free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court held 5–4 that the freedom of speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political campaigns by corporations, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, and other associations.

[-] sxan@midwest.social 2 points 5 months ago

Yeah, I'm aware that corporations are now people; that doesn't make quid-pro-quo legal.

If I'm a politician, and we're in a room together, and I say, "if you donate a million dollars to my campaign I'll vote in your favor," and you do, and I do, and the conversation was recorded - that's a reasonably prosecutable quid-pro-quo case, isn't it?

[-] goferking0@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 5 months ago

Because Republicans consider it simple expression. So donations totally just saying you support the person and definitely not legal bribery

As Kennedy wrote, "If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech."

[-] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 5 months ago

Hm. Quid pro quo is definitely illegal, and prosecutable. You're saying that because I say "I promise to give you X if you pay me Y" while I'm campaigning, that I'm protected from prosecution? Do I have to be actively campaigning? Does it have to be before a crowd? Can I -- as a politician -- sit in a room and promise to hand something to a "donor" simply by wrapping the conversation in some campaign-ish wording? Is "I was campaigning for office when I took the bribe" a catch-all defense?

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this post was submitted on 26 May 2024
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