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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   38438 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 27, 2023

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John Edwards was accused of using campaign contributions as hush money, which is not the same thing.

The money never came from an Edwards campaign fund, a major donor sent the money to a friend who sent it to Edwards assistant's wife and they paid off his mistress. Edwards says this a personal expense paid for with a personal gift. SC's Republican prosecutor said this was in service to the campaign and so an unreported campaign donations, just like what NY prosecutor says about Trump.

This is not correct for several reasons. Edwards was tried in a federal court in North Carolina, not a state court, or in South Carolina. Trump has not been charged with any federal crimes, and in fact the DOJ and FEC conducted their own inquiries into the same alleged offense and decided against charging him with anything. It also makes a significant difference as to whether the money comes from a donor - which places it in the realm of campaign contributions - or from the candidate's own pocket or business organization. The Edwards prosecution also cited fake invoices for nonexistent purchases that the donor listed as the reason they were giving money to Edwards, so that the money wouldn't have to be listed in FEC reports.

As far as I can tell, under Bragg's theory, if you pay hush money it is a legitimate campaign expense.

Bragg's theory

What's that? Isn't that about x-ray diffraction?

Reading the article would have revealed that the prosecutor in this case is named Alvin Bragg.

Haha, sorry! I try to make it a rule not to read articles about Trump toxoplasma. Especially whatever is the latest charges he's brought up on. Also, I thought he was saying something more general, like Godwin's law or something.

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