Will Trump Be Charged For "Hush $" Payment?

[WillBrink]

Politicians, etc have been paying people off to keep their mouths shut forever, but is that illegal? I'm unclear what the charges are there. Not the best source but:

[One More Time]

I remember an old comic strip.
Girl holds a football and snatches it away just before the big headed kid can kick it.
Over and over, one day it'll work.

[The Dumb Gun Collector]

I remember they prosecuted John Edwards for a similar, but slightly worse "crime." He was paying his side-chick with campaign funds. It was a silly prosecution and so is this. Trump paid off a chick who was blackmailing him. Whoop de damn do.

[SomeOtherGuy]

I remember they prosecuted John Edwards for a similar, but slightly worse "crime." He was paying his side-chick with campaign funds. It was a silly prosecution and so is this.

Campaign funds are treated very, very seriously. You can only bribe candidates openly and in compliance with certain procedures. Even though it's still a bribe, and the candidate gets to keep all the money as personal funds when they retire or lose. In all seriousness, I think the rigidness is used to protect the bribe nature of the funds against creeping use of them for other things.

Re: Trump, I hope he has better lawyers and used funds that aren't campaign funds. If it somehow became illegal to make settlements of bogus claims to get rid of annoying claimants then there are tens of millions of people who've committed crimes.

[hotbiggun42]

Not sure how a state AG can prosecute for a possible federal crime but the law means little in this case.

[hotbiggun42]

Campaign funds are treated very, very seriously. You can only bribe candidates openly and in compliance with certain procedures. Even though it's still a bribe, and the candidate gets to keep all the money as personal funds when they retire or lose. In all seriousness, I think the rigidness is used to protect the bribe nature of the funds against creeping use of them for other things.

Re: Trump, I hope he has better lawyers and used funds that aren't campaign funds. If it somehow became illegal to make settlements of bogus claims to get rid of annoying claimants then there are tens of millions of people who've committed crimes.

Trump self funded in 2016.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

The problem is that any judge or jury in NY city will convict him of any charge with any evidence. That is the problem.

He might get off on appeals, but that will take years.

[Coal Dragger]

Of course Trump will pick up charges.

Next question.

[glocktogo]

What the charges are or whether they can be proven are irrelevant. The goal is getting him arrested and putting him in a courtroom they control, where they know their jury would convict him of anything they said.

[The Dumb Gun Collector]

But as far as I can tell, maybe he banged some nasty whore 12 or so years before the election. She shops around the story with no takers forever. Basically, after he gets caught bragging about grabbing pussies on a hot mike the story is suddenly interesting. He basically stalls out paying until they threaten to go to another buyer, so Trump's lawyer goes ahead and pays her. Then trump pays him back right after the election. It's basically Bill Clinton Level dipshittery, This is a pretty lame case (and I have never been a big fan of Trump. I was a Rubio guy and I like DeSantis now.)

That being said, unless he can get it dismissed on a motion he will probably lose at trial just because it will be a NY jury. Maybe he can get someone to hang the jury.