“Trump says Michael Cohen didn’t commit crimes. He’s wrong.”
Very nice explainer from Trevor Potter in WaPo.
Category Archives: campaign finance
“Did Trump break laws with hush-money payments? Here’s what legal experts are saying”
Good CBC roundup of opinion.
“Those payments to women were unseemly. That doesn’t mean they were illegal.”
Brad Smith writes for WaPo.
See also this piece at Reason.
I disagree with Brad, for reasons I’ve given most recently in this Slate piece from last week and my ELB Podcast with Bob Bauer.
Will David Pecker Implicate Trump?
Yesterday I suggested David Pecker might be next to take a plea deal, but it turns out he got something better: immunity. and it looks like he’s implicating the president (from the WSJ):
David Pecker, the chief executive… Continue reading
ELB Podcast, Season 2, Episode 2: Bob Bauer: Unpacking the Trump Campaign Finance Allegations, From Michael Cohen to Trump Tower
Does Michael Cohen’s guilty plea to campaign finance violations implicate the President in criminal campaign finance activity? What about the defenses that the President has raised to these charges? Did Trump or the Trump campaign violate the prohibition on soliciting… Continue reading
“FACT CHECK: Trump’s Misguided Defense Of Cohen Payments”
Peter Overby for NPR.
“The Campaign Finance Case Against Donald Trump is a Strong One: Just Ask John Edwards’ Prosecutors”
Paul Ryan for Just Security.
“‘Dark money’ boosts Democratic super PAC that’s battling ‘corrupt campaign finance system’”
CPI:
BlackPAC — an upstart super PAC that’s raised millions to support Democrats — has received a new infusion of “dark money” to fuel its 2018 midterm election efforts, according to new federal filings.
BlackPAC received $100,000 in July… Continue reading
“Cohen charges: Federal investigation implicates others close to Trump”
Trump Tells FOX News Interviewer That He Learned of Later of Hush Money Payments, That Paying Out of the Campaign Would Be “a Little Dicey”
EXCLUSIVE: President @realDonaldTrump on if he knew about the Cohen payments. See more from his interview with @ainsleyearhardt tomorrow 6-9amET. pic.twitter.com/HPJPslOG6X
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 22, 2018
(via Jonathan Chiat)
“Michael Cohen Plea Agreement: Possible Meanings of the Campaign Finance Counts”
Bob Bauer at Lawfare:
Of course, in a case involving massive alleged financial and tax fraud, there is still the question of why prosecutors troubled themselves with campaign finance violations. The amounts spent represent a sliver of the total spent… Continue reading
“Campaign Finance Transparency Affects Legislators’ Election Outcomes and Behavior”
Abby Wood and Christian Grose have posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Do audits by executive agencies impact the behavior of those audited? Does revealing negative information about candidates affect electoral results and behavior? Institutions that encourage… Continue reading
“Michael Cohen’s Guilty Plea Directly Implicates Donald Trump in a Felony”
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins:
For the first time since the Trump presidency began, President Donald Trump is in some real legal jeopardy, providing potential grounds for his eventual impeachment, if not indictment.
Most people watching… Continue reading
California: “Walters: ‘Biggest rollback of campaign finance law’ weighed”
Dan Walters:
They clearly aspire to re-establish the centralized legislative leadership that had been eroded by term limits, and to do so, they want bigger roles in amassing and dispensing campaign funds to their favored legislators and candidates, ala Unruh… Continue reading