The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website August 15, 2018:
President Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani tried to downplay collusion by saying it isn’t a crime and attacked the special counsel on July 30. (Jenny Starrs /The Washington Post)
Rudy Giuliani has said that collusion isn’t technically a crime. President Trump has said it’s totally normal to seek opposition research — even if it was from Russia.
Not even Republicans buy these defenses.
A new poll from Quinnipiac University shows there is actually a bipartisan consensus on the appropriateness of seeking information about a political opponent from a hostile foreign country. Fully 79 percent of Americans say it’s never acceptable, including 92 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Republicans.