Report: Trump played central role in hush payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal

He did not use campaign money, how can he be subject to campaign finance violation. He can spend all of his money he wants and in any manner he wants.

"President Donald Trump didn’t violate campaign-finance law; the payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal came from his personal finances, not campaign funds, for something he believed was unrelated to the campaign. As the president told Fox News, “They didn’t come out of the campaign; they came from me.”

At the very worst, even if re-characterized to be campaign-related, the “violation” amounts to underreporting relatively insignificant contributions from a candidate to his own campaign."
Dan Backer is founding attorney of political.law, a campaign-finance and political law firm in Alexandria, Virginia.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opin...gn-finance-law-editorials-debates/1078757002/

"A candidate is free to contribute to his or her own campaign. It also is not criminal for a candidate to pay hush money to women whose disclosures might endanger his campaign. So if candidate Trump paid hush money to his two accusers, there would be no violation of any campaign or other laws. To be sure, if he did so for the purpose of helping his campaign, as distinguished from helping his marriage, his campaign would have to disclose any such contribution, and failure to do so might be a violation of a campaign law, but the payments themselves would be entirely lawful."
Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, atHarvard Law School. He is the author of “Trumped Up: How Criminalizing Politics is Dangerous to Democracy” and “The Case Against Impeaching Trump.”
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/403072-did-president-trump-violate-campaign-finance-laws

 

Which has nothing to do with renting his facilities to his campaign.

 

I was hoping you’d make the connection that personal money spent to benefit the campaign must be disclosed

 

Lots of politicians donate to their campaign. Polis in Colorado donated a ton to his campaign. Clinton donated a ton of money to her own campaign. It's not illegal to donate money to one's own campaign. Most politicians donate money to their own campaigns. They all were legally required to report it. That doesn't make it illegal or wrong. I am not being a smart ass here. I just don't see the point.

 

You apparently didn’t read my post. The issue isn’t the money, it’s the non-disclosure. Like payments to porn stars. Had he reported it, there’d be no issue.

 

Cohen pleaded guilty to two felonies in which Trump was involved. Since you are such a stickler for technical details regarding Clinton’s misdeeds, I guess you won’t mind it if the congress are real sticklers and very technical in regards to any misdeeds committed by Trump. We will have to wait and see if Trump is charged with anything and if so, what he is charged with. After all, it was not until Clinton’s 6th year in office that he was charged. Trump has not even completed his 2nd yet. This inquiry into corrupt activity by Trump and his cohorts is in its early stages comparatively. Trump and his cultists who are demanding that Mueller wrap this up immediately and stop investigating their Orange icon are some of the same people who were happy that Starr’s investigation dragged on for years until Paula Jones, Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky fell into their laps.

 

Only if the SOLE purpose was to help the campaign, since it was ALSO to protect the marriage and personal emabarrasment........
"A candidate is free to contribute to his or her own campaign. It also is not criminal for a candidate to pay hush money to women whose disclosures might endanger his campaign. So if candidate Trump paid hush money to his two accusers, there would be no violation of any campaign or other laws. To be sure, if he did so for the purpose of helping his campaign, as distinguished from helping his marriage, his campaign would have to disclose any such contribution, and failure to do so might be a violation of a campaign law, but the payments themselves would be entirely lawful."
Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, atHarvard Law School. He is the author of “Trumped Up: How Criminalizing Politics is Dangerous to Democracy” and “The Case Against Impeaching Trump.”
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/403072-did-president-trump-violate-campaign-finance-laws

 

It is not a technical detail when it cones to Clinton its called walking into a federal court and then a federal grand jury and knowingly committing multiple felonies.

 

Well, Clinton’s deal is long over and was adjudicated 22 years ago. The investigation into Trump’s possible crimes is just getting started. We will see what turns up in this ongoing investigation and how Trump is dealt with accordingly. It’s a whole new ballgame. Enjoy the show.

 

Loving every minute of it.

 

Well you're the one who brought up Clinton and the investigation into Trump began almost two years ago and we have nothing. The Clinton investigation BEGAN with a crime. What crime BEGAN the Trump investigation?

 

What difference does that make. Whatever crime Clinton’s investigation began with had nothing to do with Monica Lewinsky. Trumps investigation began two years ago and so far several of his close associates have been convicted and pleaded guilty of felonies. You call that nothing?

 

Nonsense. Payments to porn stars aren't campaign contributions.

 

It makes a HUGE difference whether a special prosecutor is appointed because a crime HAS BEEN committed or is is trying to FIND a crime to investigate. What crime began the investigation into Clinton? And Lewinsky was an intrical part of the investigation into the Clinton's crimes, a participant in them, a subject of them to say it had nothing to do with her is fallacious nonsense.

Who has been charged with a crime to do with Russian collusion, what Mueller was charged to investigate.

 

You just can’t get over Clinton can you? That game is over. The new game is to ascertain whether Trump or any of his cohorts conspired with a foreign power to rig the 2016 election. However, just as with Starr’s investigation if any other criminal activity is uncovered in the course of the investigation, it is fair game. Ask Paul Manafort, Mike Flynn or Michael Cohen. The interesting thing is that salacious sexual activity has also been uncovered here too. I find that fascinating! Don’t you? The parallels are really mind boggling. Many of Clintons problems were caused by his serial skirt chasing and Trump is also a known lifelong cheater and skirt chaser. It is good to see that the once holier than thou GOP is ok with that type of thing now.

 

I'll play along for fun....Why not?? And you need to stay specific to Trump (like your theory would actually apply to other candidates)

 

YOU brought him into this in some comparison to Trump. It ain't even close. Get over it.

And Starr just didn't go into his investigation by himself. He took it to AG Reno not wanting it, SHE assigned it to his office and it was based on a CRIME. What crime did Mueller begin his investigation and BTW it is not Mueller's office investigating the Daniels thing anyway. AND has Stormy paid Trumps legal expenses yet as ordered by the judge?

 

To be sure, if he did so for the purpose of helping his campaign, as distinguished from helping his marriage, his campaign would have to disclose any such contribution, and failure to do so might be a violation of a campaign law,

Yup

 

Actually it applied to John Edwards.

 

Orange man bad.

 

Says you. I certainly hope Trump's lawyers have a more informed and nuanced argument at hand, for his sake.

 

The successful defense employed by Edwards will not be available to Trump. The money at issue with Edwards was from other people. Trump his own money to payoff women to stay quiet.

 

We know that Stormy Daniels is guilty of blackmail. But that does not make her a hero.

 

No, that's your fantasy. You have a bad habit of confusing what you wish were true with what is true.

 

?? Uhh... no he didn't and that's the problem here...Cohen and AFI paid off the women FOR Trump as directed BY Trump, allowing it to go unreported...

He probably wishes he did now...