President Donald Trump on Thursday downplayed the crimes for which he was implicated by his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen.
“Nobody, except for me, would be looked at like this,” the President told Fox News’ Harris Faulkner.
He referenced the congressional fund that uses taxpayer dollars to pay settlements for workplace disputes including allegations of sexual harassment.
“What about Congress, where they have a slush fund, and millions and millions of dollars is paid out each year?” he said. “They don’t talk about campaign finance— anything.”
(In reality, the fund has only paid out more than $1,000,000 per year twice in 20 years.)
Trump then spuriously compared the crimes to which Cohen pleaded guilty — illegally helping Trump’s campaign by coordinating the payments to two women in order to prevent them publicizing their alleged affairs with the President — to a violation by former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.
Obama’s campaign violated reporting requirements and waited too long to refund some contributions that were over the legal limit; it was fined $375,000.
“I’m the only one that this happens to,” Trump said.
Watch below:
"I did nothing wrong": Trump downplays being implicated in Michael Cohen's campaign finance violations. pic.twitter.com/OYK5Wi99vH
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 13, 2018