PeterS wrote:
What does the NDA have to do with anything? The question at hand is whether Trump is on the hook for two felony counts for campaign finance violations. I think there is no question that the Trump campaign received something of value by having Daniels and McDougall keep their mouths shut which is all that is necessary for campaign finance laws to be violated.
As for why it's a campaign finance violation--Federal law, requires that payments for the purpose of influencing e******ns must be disclosed. Federal prosecutors in New York said that Cohen, in paying Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for their silence, “acted with the intent to influence the 2016 p**********l e******n,” and at Trump’s direction.
What does the NDA have to do with anything? The qu... (
show quote)
The pay offs might have been a violation of campaign finance law IF the money had come from official campaign finance funds. Cohen paid Daniels out of his law firm's account and National Enquirer paid McDougall for her story.
Last Friday, James Comey was interviewed by two House committees. He confessed that the Steele dossier was not verified before the initial FISA application, nor was it verified throughout the renewals. This is a serious violation of the Woods Procedure for obtaining a FISA warrant.
As damning as this confession is, it plays a small role in how thoroughly Comey discredited himself throughout the interviews. He apparently was overcome with a serious case of amnesia regarding his own role in this debacle, and he astounded the federal lawmakers when he didn't seen to know that
his own FBI was using No. 4 Justice Department official Bruce Ohr as a conduit to keep collecting intelligence from Christopher Steele after the British intel operative was fired by the bureau for leaking and lying. In fact, Comey didn’t seem to remember knowing that Steele had been terminated.One interviewer said, "His memory was so bad I feared he might not remember how to get out of the room after the interview." Another remarked, "It was like he suddenly developed dementia or Alzheimer’s, after conveniently remembering enough facts to sell his book."
MORE HEREFBI email chain may provide most damning evidence of FISA abuses yet5 Things The FBI Never Told The FISA Court About The Trump DossierThe read of the day: Woods Procedures - the FBI's 'strict' guidelines for FISA warrantsThe fact that Comey is a political activist who failed in his duties as FBI Director and brought dishonor on the agency is merely one piece of the big picture.
After 2 years and 30 million of taxpayer money spent, what has Mueller's investigation done? It is utterly striking that after so many indictments, charges of crimes, prosecutions, ruining men's lives, bankrupting them, all ostensibly for the purpose of proving Trump/Russian collusion and how it influenced a p**********l e******n, it has come to rest on allegations of campaign finance violations based on the stories of a porn actress and a Playboy bunny who claim they had affairs with Donald Trump 10 years ago.
Isn't it amazing that politicians and DC swamp dwellers have illicit affairs day in and day out. Isn't it interesting that 14 US presidents committed adultery and other sexual indiscretions, but only two--Eisenhower and Trump--were not in office at the time.
What should do about the slush fund congress critters created with our money for the specific purpose of paying hush money to those with whom they had affairs?