When Donald Trump asked Russian hackers to spy on Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, he shocked the nation. But did he break the law?

Some Democrats think so. Specifically, they’re accusing Trump of violating the Logan Act, a centuries-old law aimed at keeping private citizens out of foreign affairs.

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As Michael McConnell, a constitutional law professor with Stanford University, explained to my colleague Philip Bump recently:

Logan went to France after an official delegation from the United States had been met with demands from anonymous French emissaries for a bribe, an incident known as the XYZ Affair. The Federalist Party of President John Adams was advocating for war, but Logan’s visit prompted France to take some actions that defused the situation. Disappointment in Adams’s subsequent ramping down of tensions led to the act that bears Logan’s name.