No. Edwards used campaign money to pay his mistress. They charged him with misusing campaign money and he argued that it wasn’t really campaign money because the lady who gave it to him gave it as a gift. She claimed she thought it was a campaign donation but the jury sided with Edwards.
In Trumps case, he paid the woman with his personal funds, not his campaign funds. Bragg is arguing that he received a political benefit from making the payment, so it should be treated as campaign funds and therefore Trump should have disclosed it on his campaign audit.
Does anyone doubt that if Trump had paid with campaign funds, Bragg would be arguing that it was improper to use campaign funds to pay a mistress bush money?
True. In Cohen's plea deal, the DOJ specifically identified that Cohen was paid (reimbursed) from the Trump Trust, via Allen Weisselberg (Executive 1) at the Trump Foundation (the Company). It was posted as "Legal Expenses" which seems a pretty accurate description for the settlement of a law suit. Cohen's loan fraud and shell corporations were pretty sketchy, but that was apparently his idea and actions. DOJ saw no path path to indict Trump.
Soon we should see the actual indictment and how Bragg intends to proceed. Both Cohen and Wiesselberg appear to have flipped. There is also the case of Mcdougal, AMI, etc, where AMI cooperated with the DOJ.
Bragg would be arguing that it was improper to use campaign funds to pay a mistress bush money?
“Bush” money?