The First Amendment and the Trump Indictment

Former FBC commissioner Brad Smith had written that Michael Cohen was pleading guilty to something that was not a crime. John Avlon: The theory is simple. Federal law defines a campaign contribution as anything quote for the purposes of influencing an election for federal office. Hush money payments to Daniels were for the purpose of influence the 2016 presidential race, and so is an illegal and unreported campaign contribution he says. Avlon: People pay hash money even if they're not running for office. They buy clothes, they get haircuts, they set a lawsuit,. But if someone does any of these things we don't intuitively think it is a political campaign expense.