Why Do People Say Collusion Instead Of Conspiracy All The Time?

The term “collusion” might not be in the lawbooks, but other crimes like conspiracy are. Conspiracy comes from the Old French word conspiracie, meaning plot or conspiracy. Collusion describes two or more individuals planning to defraud, while conspiracy is planning to do something unlawful. The U.S. code mostly uses the term “collusion” in antitrust laws to address crimes like price fixing. However, there are plenty of specific laws on the books that could apply to collusion.

Sanford law professor Robert Weisberg stated that “every conspiracy is a form of collusion”. In the political and popular vernacular, collusion has been incorrectly conflated with its legal equivalent: criminal conspiracy. Former special counsel Robert Mueller has been asked whether his use of the terms “collusion” and “conspiracy” in his report have the same meanings. The world of the law is filled with words that begin with the letter “c”, such as consent, capital, coercion, and of course, the term “collusion” has no relevance to the criminal law.

Acts of collusion span the legal gamut, including campaign finance violations, conspiracy, bribery, and fraud. The Federal Election Commission has been working to clarify the distinction between collusion and conspiracy. The term “no-collusion” has been used by President Donald Trump to obscure the findings of his investigation into Russian interference in the Manafort trial.