LEGAL/MICHAEL COHEN/OBAMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump asserted Wednesday [8-22-18] that former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to violations of campaign law which aren’t crimes. ‘Michael Cohen plead guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime,’ Mr. Trump tweeted. ‘President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!’ Cohen pleaded guilty in connection with hush-money payments to two women who allege affairs with Mr. Trump. He said he made the payments at the direction of a candidate, referring to Mr. Trump. American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp also said on CNN Wednesday that the campaign finance violations to which Cohen pleaded guilty are not crimes. Prosecutors alleged, and Cohen agreed, that the payments were a type of campaign contribution that weren’t disclosed. Lawyer Alan Dershowitz said Cohen’s guilty plea to the campaign-finance violations doesn’t put Mr. Trump in legal jeopardy, because candidates can contribute any amount to their own campaigns.”
–Dave Boyer, “Trump: Cohen’s campaign finance violations ‘not a crime’,” The Washington Times, August 22, 2018