SouthAussie
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If your hypothetical printer then bills the campaign and gets paid, it wasn't a donation, right?
Another hypothetical leading to one felony indictment under these NY/FEC law?:
Some pundit mocks trumps hair before the election. A stylist makes trump a new wig for his last tv appearance before the election. The wig fools some voters into thinking trump hasnt lost his hair.
A lawyer draws up a NDA with the stylist regarding trump follicular activity and pays him $3000 over and above the fair market value of a tangerine toupee. Lawyer has previously discussed with other advisors an overall scheme to conceal trumps physical ugliness from the voters.
Lawyer pays stylist at time of service and bills trump after election. Some one enters the repayment transaction in the business records as anything except "hush money and one orange-ish wig".
DT's 34 charges are for falsifying business records.
The repayments were put through as legal expenses.
Michael Cohen did no legal work for him that year, and there was no retainer agreement.
The felony comes about (probably, it hasn't been stated at the moment) because the business records were falsified to cover up hush money payments ... pre-election.
Former federal prosecutor Shan Wu:
"If it turns out that the other crime we're talking about - which they don't have to prove; it just has to be the intent to cover it up - is the federal campaign violation, which Michael Cohen had pled guilty to"
"There's nothing novel about it being a felony. That happens all the time with the falsification charge."
"For the defense, my biggest worry would be this is not a hard case for the jury to understand - very easy to present. It's a man who wanted to buy silence. That would worry me some 'cause it's easy for the jury to get."