The past couple of days Trump and FOX News and now Guiliani are saying it was NOT CAMPAIGN FUNDS. They are trying to CREATE an alternate dialogue with the public.
Trump used his own funds for everything, evidently, including hush money because he invested his own monies into the campaign.
I don't believe a jury would allow such blatant manipulation of such facts that it is okay for a billionaire to pay off lovers to prevent them speaking out regarding their relationships before his election. I don't know of many candidates that have personal funds set aside for hiding adulterous relationships. I don't believe that is a legitimate expense of a self-funded campaign.
Best I can find and recall is that Citizens' United is about campaign ads and not hush money.
April 2, 2018
By Robert Barnes
...The court’s decisions on campaign finance (click here) provide one of the most dramatic examples of how the court shifted when the conservative Alito replaced the more moderate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. O’Connor was in the majority that upheld the McCain-Feingold law. Alito has swung the court to side with challengers to such laws.
He has been in the majority as the court has eased restrictions on organizations that air ads that discuss candidates in the closing days of a campaign; struck down a part of the McCain-Feingold law that increased contribution limits for candidates who faced wealthy, self-funding opponents; and struck down Arizona’s public finance system, which had a similar provision....
I don't care if Trump says this is an ongoing problem from his personal life before he was running for President; things change when a private citizen runs for office.
The people of the USA did not sign a non-disclosure agreement with Trump including his taxes. He is getting away with a lot because he mesmerizes people with his personal attacks on others. Trump uses a distraction to remove attention from areas of THE TRUTH that would hurt his plans.
Ms. Clifford was paid days before election day, not two years before the election.
McCain Feingold (click here)
Supreme Court Decision of McCain Feingold (click here)
Trump is perverting the Supreme Court decision to attempt to justify his perverted life. I am quite sure the Supreme Court didn't put a provision in their decision providing for a billionaire's hush money. That is corruption.
...The historic 5-to-4 decision in Citizens United v. FEC overturned a 20-year-old ruling that said corporations can be prohibited from using money from their general treasuries to pay for their own campaign ads and rolled back centuries-old law about corporate spending. Under the ruling, corporations and unions will still be prohibited from giving direct contributions to candidates....
Anything I read says the same thing. A corporation can spend all the money it wants on ads to promote themselves in a campaign season; ie: petroleum industry. But, there is no unlimited spending on hush money.
The Supreme Court decision is about ADS, not SECRETS.
