Sudden shift in get-Trump talk; now it's campaign finance, not Russia

[GURPS]

One significant problem could be that the campaign finance charge against the president is a pretty iffy case. Back in 2010, the Justice Department accused 2008 presidential candidate John Edwards of a similar scheme — an alleged campaign finance violation based on a payoff to a woman with whom Edwards had had an affair (and a child).

Edwards said he arranged the payment to save his reputation and hide the affair from his wife. The Justice Department said it was to influence the outcome of a presidential election.

The New York Times called the Edwards indictment "a case that had no precedent." Noting that campaign finance law is "ever changing," the paper said the Edwards case came down to one question: "Were the donations for the sole purpose of influencing the campaign or merely one purpose?"

The Justice Department failed miserably at trial. Edwards was acquitted on one count, while the jury deadlocked in Edwards' favor on the others. Prosecutors opted not to try again.

President Trump would point out that the accusation against him differs in at least one key respect from Edwards. Prosecutors accused Edwards of raising donor money to pay off the woman. Trump used his own money, which even the byzantine and restrictive campaign finance laws give candidates a lot of freedom to use in unlimited amounts.



Byron York: Sudden shift in get-Trump talk; now it's campaign finance, not Russia

 

[This_person]

It was like this with Clinton's perjury and obstruction of justice and such. Starr was assigned to look at Whitewater, FBI misuse (imagine that), Travel office firings...and the list goes on. They concluded with the Lewinsky affair after years of stalling and deal-making. While Whitewater wasn't nothing, they couldn't pin it on the Clintons. While only an idiot believes Vince Foster was suicide, they couldn't pin it on ANYONE. So, thanks to an honest citizen in Paula Jones, they got to Lewinsky, and Slick Willie couldn't help himself but to perjure and witness tamper and such, and it cost him an impeachment and his law license (for a while).

This Russia thing is clearly payback. We KNOW it started with Podesta immediately after the campaign failed - there are books written on it from insiders who didn't realize what they were admitting. If you dig long and deep enough into anyone, you will find questionable actions. Anyone. So, Russia failed (as lies generally do), so they're moving on to something that has a tiny bit of teeth - the appearance of impropriety.