I still believe the ultimate goal was to draw into question where Trump got the cash, and if from his private funds, then charge that cash was from campaign funds.
That way they can bring the FEC into their lawfare. Cohen got 36 months for election law violations.
Check your sources. He got 36 months for fraud. The charges were combined to determine the sentence... The campaign violations added 2 months to his sentence. The conviction level called for 51-63 months and they lowered it to 36 for cooperating with the lawfare effort.