It’s not for either of those things. It’s for cooking the books to hide the transaction. Falsifying financial records is the crime. And it would be a misdemeanor except that it was done to further a conspiracy to defraud the public which makes it a felony. It’s not a crime to drive, but it is if it’s a getaway car.
so it wouldn’t have been a crime if he had just paid her to not tell, in order to protect his presidential candidacy? The actual crime was that he tried to hide that he had paid her not to tell?
It’s not for either of those things. It’s for cooking the books to hide the transaction. Falsifying financial records is the crime. And it would be a misdemeanor except that it was done to further a conspiracy to defraud the public which makes it a felony. It’s not a crime to drive, but it is if it’s a getaway car.
so it wouldn’t have been a crime if he had just paid her to not tell, in order to protect his presidential candidacy? The actual crime was that he tried to hide that he had paid her not to tell?
He committed a criminal act to hide the source of the funds. He could have just paid her out of pocket and not told anyone. No crime then.