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Legal experts tell PEOPLE that campaign finance laws prohibit the acceptance of anything of value from a foreign government or a foreign individual, or coordinating to work with a foreign government.

Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, considers the actions "treason." "It is betraying your own country in the hands of a foreign adversary," Painter tells PEOPLE. He notes that under the Bush administration, Don Jr. would have been in custody and brought in for questioning. "I think there are grounds here on campaign finance violations alone that it is illegal," he says.

Whatever his personal and legal predicament, Don Jr. will remain loyal to his father, say his friends.

"The loyalty within this family is insane," says a family friend especially close to Don Jr. and Eric. "They would never speak against their dad."

Adds the source in the brothers' circle, "You can't bite the hand that feeds you, but he [Don Jr.] can't wait for these four years to be over."

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