On Tuesday, Donald Trump Jr. and the New York Times released emails showing he’d been promised information that “would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.” In the event there was any lingering doubt about where this material was coming from, the emails offered clarification: “[T]his is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” Trump Jr.’s response: “I love it.”

Today, like many days during Donald Trump’s tenure as president, the question for the lawyers is: Are we there yet?

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The lone dissenter among the legal experts I canvassed was Stanford Law School’s Robert Weisberg. In an email, he balked at the idea that a “thing of value” as spelled out in 52 U.S. Code Section 30121 could be stretched to cover what Trump Jr. did here.

I could imagine the statutory argument that “thing of value” can extend to damaging oppo research. But I don’t think there is much precedent for it. Most of the “[any]thing of value” precedent has to do with bribery cases … and while the courts allow some flexibility beyond actual cash or easily monetizable value, it has to have some economic salience to it. So, for example, offers of political endorsements or log-rolling tend to fall outside the category. So the case could be made, but it’s a stretch.