The Federal Election Commission deadlocked 3-3 against opening an investigation into whether Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort illegally solicited foreign assistance during a Trump Tower meeting with Russian envoys in June 2016, Axios reports. The vote split along party lines, with the three Democratic commissioners voting to approve an investigation of campaign finance violations and the three Republican commissioners voting against it, reportedly on the technical grounds that the five-year statute of limitations expires in a few months. The tie means the FEC will drop the matter.
The Trump campaign's motive for taking the meeting was to get proffered dirt on 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
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