It could take a year or longer for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to determine whether President Donald Trump’s lawyer violated campaign finance laws in paying porn actress $130,000 just before the 2016 election, NBC reported Monday evening.
According to former officials and sources close to the FEC who spoke with NBC, the office is understaffed and is still working on cases from the 2015-16 election cycle. One former FEC chairman Trevor Potter told NBC it would be “impossible” for the commission to finish by the end of year.
Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 just 11 days before the 2016 election. Daniels claims she was given the money as a hush payment to keep quiet about her alleged sexual affair with Trump in 2006. She also signed a non-disclosure agreement. Cohen has admitted to making the payment, but said he made it out of his own volition and Trump was unaware of it.
In January, a watchdog group filed a complaint with the FEC and the Justice Department to investigate the payment. It could be considered a violation of campaign finance laws if it’s determined that the money was used to benefit Trump’s campaign, given it exceeds the maximum amount allowed for campaign contributions.
The FEC is a toothless tiger and none of this will matter in the end.
The court of public opinion will have the last word—and Trump won’t like it.
Lack of FEC ruling helps keep the story running.
What I don’t get is why all of this publicity has not negatively affected Trump’s approval numbers. I watch the 538 polls composite and Trump is actually up a bit in the last several days. That would imply that people actually think making like a 60 yr old fake stud, while wife #3 is home with the newborn, is a good thing. Must be all those good Christians.
The FEC is specifically designed to be a toothless tiger. The Repubs and some Dems have been more than happy to make sure that the number of commissioners appointed to the FEC is exactly, precisely equal. As a result (and with Mitch McConnell’s careful stewardship) any controversial matter coming before the Commission for review winds up in a tie vote and disappears down the rathole.
Add to it, as you have noted, the fact that the FEC (like the SEC and the IRS) is grossly understaffed, and you realize that the FEC EVER ruling on whether the $130 grand payment to Stormy to keep her yap shut constitutes an illegal campaign contribution is unlikely to happen during this century.
You will notice how rabidly the Trump administration has gone after the Consumer Protection Board. As originally constituted, its budget was made separate from the regular budget to keep it protected (supposedly) from the kind of shenanigans politicians love to wreak on other agencies by simply constricting budgets. Now of course, your zealous CPB administrator Mick Mulvaney (in his spare time as Budget Director) is busily zeroing out budget funds for the entire agency. They aren’t even pretending to hide what they are up to.
That’s what the law says. It’s not some plot.
The FEC is supposed to be non-partisan, but since Republicans are born to cheat and double-deal, it will never be what the law intended.