Re: POTUS 45.32: QAnon Will Help Show the Truth
Here is a question I have. Let's say that Cohen and Trump decided it was a good idea to pay off Daniels in exchange for her silence. The scheme cooked up is that Cohen writes the check, then Trump pays him back through a series of "retainer" payments over the course of the next few months. They do it in that fashion either because Trump doesn't have the $130,000, which I think is possible and would be very funny, or more likely because these simpletons think that if there is no single payment of exactly $130,000 from Trump to Cohen that no one will ever figure out that it was Trump who paid the money.
Let's further assume this was done to try to keep it out of the news media during a critical time of the campaign, bringing this under the election financing laws.
Personally, I think it's safe to say that is exactly what happened, although we'll maybe have to wait until the feds sort it out. The story seems plausible. Although I think that scenario is the most likely, I'm not 100% sold that Trump made the payment to help his election because honestly I think that in mid-October he, like the rest of us, believed he had no chance of being elected. In fact, I seem to recall stories that Trump was balking at putting any of his own money into the campaign at that time because he could see the handwriting on the wall. But let's ignore that and accept as true that this was done to help the campaign.
So what happens? I assume the Federal Election Commission can come in and levy fines, etc... I also assume there are criminal charges that can be brought for filing false campaign statements or making illegal loans to a campaign.
But beyond the fines, which you periodically hear about being levied against campaigns, are the feds regularly putting people in jail for something like this? Are they even regularly prosecuting them? I'm asking because I don't know. I remember they tried to get Edwards on something like this, but I don't recall any other cases of criminal prosecutions.
Anyone know?
Here is a question I have. Let's say that Cohen and Trump decided it was a good idea to pay off Daniels in exchange for her silence. The scheme cooked up is that Cohen writes the check, then Trump pays him back through a series of "retainer" payments over the course of the next few months. They do it in that fashion either because Trump doesn't have the $130,000, which I think is possible and would be very funny, or more likely because these simpletons think that if there is no single payment of exactly $130,000 from Trump to Cohen that no one will ever figure out that it was Trump who paid the money.
Let's further assume this was done to try to keep it out of the news media during a critical time of the campaign, bringing this under the election financing laws.
Personally, I think it's safe to say that is exactly what happened, although we'll maybe have to wait until the feds sort it out. The story seems plausible. Although I think that scenario is the most likely, I'm not 100% sold that Trump made the payment to help his election because honestly I think that in mid-October he, like the rest of us, believed he had no chance of being elected. In fact, I seem to recall stories that Trump was balking at putting any of his own money into the campaign at that time because he could see the handwriting on the wall. But let's ignore that and accept as true that this was done to help the campaign.
So what happens? I assume the Federal Election Commission can come in and levy fines, etc... I also assume there are criminal charges that can be brought for filing false campaign statements or making illegal loans to a campaign.
But beyond the fines, which you periodically hear about being levied against campaigns, are the feds regularly putting people in jail for something like this? Are they even regularly prosecuting them? I'm asking because I don't know. I remember they tried to get Edwards on something like this, but I don't recall any other cases of criminal prosecutions.
Anyone know?
