Fox host points out exactly how Trump's comments violate the law after Republican insists 'Trump is a president of the law'

A Republican congressman on Thursday insisted that President Donald Trump had done nothing wrong by admitting that he might accept help from foreign operatives in an election.

"This president follows the law. He has done nothing wrong. This is Democrats trying to swing from the left side at the wind with literally a very sad rhetoric. When I heard [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denounce Trump], I was stunned and saddened. President Trump is a president of the law, by the law, and of the people," said Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) during an appearance on Fox News.

"Not just the speaker. Lindsey Graham called it a mistake this morning," Fox News host Eric Shawn pointed out.

"Let me read you the federal law about donations. It says: It shall be unlawful for a foreign national directly or indirectly to make a donation of money or other thing of value or to make or express an implied promise to make a contribution or donation in connection to a federal, state or local election."

"A thing of value could be information. It's against the law and here you have the president in the Oval Office saying maybe I would do it. Although, it is hypothetical," Shawn explained.

But Fleischmann doubled down.

"The president has made it clear, he has in the past complied with the law as do members of Congress. We’re all governed by federal election laws. They need to be upheld. He will uphold them, he has done that in the future," the Republican congressman replied, adding that the entire situation "was an act of despair by not only the Speaker but Democrats."