Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York want you to know the real problem with President Trump paying off a porn star to keep her quiet about their extramarital fling is that his shady lawyer didn't use campaign funds to do it.
When producing and buying time for a campaign ad, the law says a candidate must pay through his campaign.
The same is true for other campaign expenditures such as renting an arena for a rally, hiring security details for the candidate, and so on.
Former Federal Election Commissioner Bradley Smith posited another hypothetical: "If a business owner ran for political office and decided to pay bonuses to his employees in the hope that he would get good press and boost his stock as a candidate, would that be a campaign expenditure, payable from campaign funds?".
If a candidate who normally gets a $12 haircut shells out $40 for a better cut, is he a criminal for paying out of his own pocket even though the idea is to look sharp in front of news cameras? If a candidate pays a contested past-due personal bill only to make the headache go away before the debates begin, is he legally required to pay out of his campaign coffers?
Paying such expenses out of campaign funds would probably be unethical and possibly be illegal.
Cohen pleaded guilty to this campaign finance violation to avoid prison time for more serious tax evasion issues.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/stormy-in-a-teacup-campaign-finance-case-against-trump-is-laughably-weak
When producing and buying time for a campaign ad, the law says a candidate must pay through his campaign.
The same is true for other campaign expenditures such as renting an arena for a rally, hiring security details for the candidate, and so on.
Former Federal Election Commissioner Bradley Smith posited another hypothetical: "If a business owner ran for political office and decided to pay bonuses to his employees in the hope that he would get good press and boost his stock as a candidate, would that be a campaign expenditure, payable from campaign funds?".
If a candidate who normally gets a $12 haircut shells out $40 for a better cut, is he a criminal for paying out of his own pocket even though the idea is to look sharp in front of news cameras? If a candidate pays a contested past-due personal bill only to make the headache go away before the debates begin, is he legally required to pay out of his campaign coffers?
Paying such expenses out of campaign funds would probably be unethical and possibly be illegal.
Cohen pleaded guilty to this campaign finance violation to avoid prison time for more serious tax evasion issues.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/stormy-in-a-teacup-campaign-finance-case-against-trump-is-laughably-weak
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