Another day, another thing they try pin on Trump.
The payment to Stormy, facilitated by his lawyer, Michael Cohen, and recorded as a transfer from David Dennison (Donald J Trump) to Peggy Peterson (Stormy Daniels), was deemed to be an illegal campaign payment by the courts when they locked up Trumps' former lawyer.
If Trump had declared the payment to Stormy (a hush payment to protect his run for president), he would have complied with the FEC rules.
The FEC was unable to investigate the payment because the two republicans on the investigation committee, whilst agreeing that the payment was illegal, decided that the fact that his lawyer had already incarcerated was a sufficient outcome. In essence, their conclusions were akin to the days when royals argued that they were appointed by God and that they cannot therefore be punished by man, and that his lawyer had fulfilled the role of a whipping boy.
Trump is in deep brown stuff though. Although the payment date (Nov 2016) exceeds the NY statue of limitations (5 yrs), it looks like the New York Attorney General is using the date of the submission of the Trump Org tax return in late 2018 as the point at which the crime was committed.
He may be able to argue that he knew nothing about the payment, but I very much doubt that the jury will believe that given that he happily reimbursed Cohen. At one point his legal team suggested that the payment was only made to protect his marriage (rather than his run for president). Again, that doesn't explain why he fraudulently listed the payment as legal services on his Trump Org tax returns.
TL
R?
A crime was committed, only one person was convicted, the person for whom the crime was committed has thus far evaded justice.
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