Roughrider, anything of value in law refers to any goods that have a certain utility to the recipient that is real and that is ordinarily not given away free but is purchased. https://definitions.uslegal.com/a/anything-of-value/   From where did you get the information that it includes negative information about a political opponent?   I agree such information would be of value to a political campaign, but that would not be something that ordinarily is given away free or purchased.