Monday, December 17, 2018

Why Did Michael Cohen Plead Guilty to Campaign Finance Crimes That Aren't Campaign Finance Crimes?

On Thursday morning, Trump refined his messages: "Cohen was guilty on many charges unrelated to me, but he plead [sic] to two campaign charges which were not criminal[.]". As usual, either Trump is right or he's crazy.

Did Cohen plead guilty to a non-crime? The liberal media and law professors automatically assume anyone who would work with Trump is guilty, even referring to the president as an "Unindicted coconspirator." But their conclusions are based more on wishful thinking than on critical analysis of federal election law.

Cohen, as President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, has pleaded guilty to two campaign finance violations, claiming he did so at the direction of Donald Trump.

WOW: The Dec 7 filing in SDNY on Michael Cohen's sentencing charges that President Trump directed a criminal conspiracy with his attorney Cohen to violate the federal election laws in order to increase his odds of winning the presidency by deceiving voters.

Some Trump-supporters argue that Trump did not know that the action he supposedly directed Cohen to take was a federal crime, therefore he himself cannot be convicted because he did not possess the requisite mental state for a campaign finance crime - "Knowingly and willfully." But few have shown the desire or spent the time to take a critical, objective look at federal election law to see how it applies to Cohen's actions.

The campaign finance violations to which Cohen pleaded guilty relate to two payments from Cohen to a tabloid to suppress two news stories about allegations of infidelity by Donald Trump.

If the two campaign finance crimes to which he pleaded guilty are not really crimes, why did he plead guilty to them? And what precedents does this case establish that can be used against political enemies in the future?

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/12/why_did_michael_cohen_plead_guilty_to_campaign_finance_crimes_that_arent_campaign_finance_crimes.html

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