Just Security: Survey Of Past Criminal Prosecutions For Covert Payments To Benefit A Political Campaign
The indictment of former President Donald Trump by the Manhattan District Attorney for conduct involving the alleged concealment of hush money payments to benefit a presidential campaign raises the question whether his case is being treated like other cases.
New research by Just Security finds that third-party payments covertly made to benefit a candidate are routinely and successfully prosecuted as campaign finance violations in New York and elsewhere under a variety of state and federal statutes.
The Trump indictment will be made public on Tuesday.
“New York State itself offers a number of important, closely analogous campaign finance cases that resulted in convictions for conduct similar to Trump’s, including falsifying business records,” the authors of the Just Security report, Siven Watt and Amb. Norman Eisen (ret.), write.
When it comes to “surreptitious third-party payments benefiting a candidate or campaign: there is nothing novel about prosecuting them. Quite the opposite,” Watt and Eisen write.
The deeply researched report includes detailed background on 17 similar cases, including those prosecuted successfully in New York State, in other states, and by the Justice Department.
Read the full report on Just Security.
More Analysis, Insight, & Resources
Hush Money And High Stakes: 10 Key Facts On Trump’s Legal Battle In Manhattan – Democracy 21
The Broad Scope Of “Intent To Defraud” In The New York Crime Of Falsifying Business Records – Just Security
Detailed Chronology in Trump-Cohen Hush Money Investigation – Just Security
The Manhattan DA’s Charges And Trump’s Defenses: A Detailed Preview And Analysis – Just Security
Statement Of D21 President Fred Wertheimer On The Indictment Of Former President Trump – Democracy 21
Legal Experts Eisen, Vance, Weissmann React To Trump Indictment – Democracy 21
Eisen/Wertheimer/Stanton On MSNBC: The House GOP’s Manhattan DA Meddling Is Ugly, Partisan, And Potentially Unlawful – MSNBC
Goodman/Weissmann: Make No Mistake, The Investigation Of Donald Trump And The Stormy Daniels Scheme Is Serious – The New York Times
