Former White House Legislative Director Marc Short defended President Trump on CNN Thursday and seized on a conservative talking point that Trump perhaps wasn’t aware he was breaking the law with the hush payment he had Michael Cohen orchestrate for him.
“I think there is a great debate as to whether or not a payment of this sort is actually a violation of campaign finance or not,” Short said. “I think it is pretty realistic to say that somebody who is a celebrity who gets sued for these things would not know whether that’s a campaign violation or not and again I think that’s open for a lot of debate.”
CNN’s Erica Hill interrupted Short, asserting that someone who is running for president would need to know or at least surround themselves with people who know the law.
“Well that’s a fair point that clearly Michael Cohen does not know the law,” a point many Trump allies have made to shift the responsibility from Trump.
Marc Short defends Trump, suggests that a "celebrity" might not know that a hush payment could be a campaign finance violation. pic.twitter.com/n74pGbKZ78
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 13, 2018
