Gavin Howe
Former US President Donald Trump has been accused of breaking campaign finance laws on several occasions. In 2023, he was indicted on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records, with prosecutors alleging that he concealed hush money payments to two former mistresses, including porn star Stormy Daniels, to prevent the payments from influencing his 2016 election campaign. Trump has also been accused of using campaign funds to pay legal bills, with watchdog groups filing formal complaints to the Federal Election Commission. These complaints allege that Trump used an intermediary firm to conceal payments and that he illegally used campaign funds to pay for personal legal matters. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and decried the cases as a witch hunt.
What You'll Learn
Trump's hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal
In 2016, during his presidential campaign, Donald Trump was involved in "nearly every step" of hush-money agreements with two women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, who claimed they had sexual affairs with him before he became president. Trump has denied the encounters and allegations. Daniels, an adult film star, was paid $130,000 in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter with Trump at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2006. McDougal, a former Playboy model, received $150,000 from American Media, the corporation that owns the National Enquirer, after claiming she had a 10-month affair with Trump in the mid-2000s. The money was to gain the rights to McDougal's story but never to run it—a practice known as "catch and kill."
The issue here is not Trump's sexual encounters but the fact that the hush money was intended to influence the election. As Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, later confirmed, the purpose of this expense was obviously campaign-related. Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, pleaded guilty in 2018 to two federal campaign finance crimes in conjunction with the payments and said they were made "at the request of the candidate" and "for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in coordination with" Trump.
In March 2023, a grand jury indicted Trump on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in the first degree. These charges centred on the false invoices that Cohen submitted, with Trump's approval, to the Trump Organization for reimbursement for bogus "legal services" that were actually reimbursements for the payoffs to Daniels and McDougal. And because the business records were falsified to conceal another crime (the federal campaign finance violations), that made them felonies in New York.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and called the trial a “political witch hunt." In January 2025, he was convicted and sentenced to an unconditional discharge, meaning no jail time or fines. He is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and sentenced.
FBI FISA Court: Lawful or Unlawful?
You may want to see also
Trump's reimbursement to Michael Cohen
In 2016, Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to cover up allegations of an affair between her and Trump. In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance crimes in conjunction with the payment, saying they constituted an illegal campaign contribution. Cohen also claimed that he had made the payment "at the request of the candidate" and that his crimes were committed "for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in coordination with" Trump.
Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment in a series of $35,000 checks throughout 2017, adding an additional expense, a bonus for Cohen, and enough money to cover taxes on the payment. These reimbursement checks were labelled as payments for "legal services", which prosecutors argued was false.
In March 2023, a grand jury indicted Trump on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in the first degree, claiming that the false invoices submitted by Cohen, with Trump's approval, to the Trump Organization for reimbursement for bogus "legal services" were actually reimbursements for the payoff to Daniels. Because the business records were falsified to conceal another crime (the federal campaign finance violations), the charges were considered felonies in New York.
In May 2024, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide his reimbursement to Cohen. He was sentenced in January 2025, receiving an unconditional discharge from Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan, meaning he will not face prison time, fines, or community service, but the felony convictions will remain on his record.
Shell's Legal Troubles: Breaking Laws for Profit?
You may want to see also
Trump's violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act
In 2018, Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former lawyer, revealed that he had arranged a hush-money payment of $130,000 to Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, in consultation with Trump, to aid his 2016 presidential campaign. This payment was made to cover up allegations of an affair between Daniels and Trump. Cohen also created a fake shell company to send the payment and later pleaded guilty to two federal campaign finance crimes.
In May 2019, a complaint was filed by End Citizens United PAC, alleging that the Trump Campaign had violated the Federal Election Campaign Act by soliciting and directing funds to America First Action, a Super PAC, without regard to the Act's source prohibitions and contribution limits. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) closed the file in April 2021 after a vote to find a reason to believe that the Trump Campaign violated the Act failed to secure the necessary four votes.
In March 2023, a grand jury indicted Trump on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in the first degree, which were centred on the false invoices that Cohen submitted for bogus "legal services" to conceal the payoff to Daniels. These charges were brought by the Manhattan District Attorney's office, which had opened an investigation in 2018 into whether Trump Organisation officials or Trump himself had violated any New York state laws.
The Federal Election Campaign Act, passed in 1974 after the Watergate scandal, is built on the principle of transparency. Candidates for federal office must disclose their campaign spending to the public, and failing to do so can result in civil or criminal penalties. Trump's hush-money payments constituted campaign spending as they were intended to influence the election, and his failure to report these expenses violated the Act.
Undocumented Immigrants: Lawbreakers or Misunderstood?
You may want to see also
Trump's non-disclosure of campaign spending
In 2023, former US President Donald Trump was indicted on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges centred on false invoices that Trump approved, which his former lawyer Michael Cohen submitted to the Trump Organization for reimbursement for bogus "legal services" that were actually reimbursements for a hush-money payoff to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The hush-money payment to Daniels was made during the 2016 presidential campaign, in which Trump was the Republican nominee. Daniels had alleged an affair with Trump, and Cohen arranged a $130,000 payment to her in exchange for her silence. Cohen fronted the money and then invoiced the Trump Organization for legal services, which were reimbursed from business coffers. Trump personally signed at least one of the reimbursement cheques.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to two federal campaign finance crimes in conjunction with the payment. He told a federal judge that he arranged the payments "at the request of the candidate," and that his crimes were committed "for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in coordination with" Trump. Cohen served a little over 13 months in prison for these felonies.
In addition to the Daniels payment, Cohen also arranged for American Media Inc. (AMI), the corporation that owns the National Enquirer, to buy the rights to the story of another woman, Karen McDougal, who claimed to have had an affair with Trump. AMI did not publish McDougal's story. Cohen set up a limited liability company, Essential Consultants LLC, to facilitate the Daniels payment.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and decried the case as a "witch hunt".
Madonna's Legal Troubles: Did She Cross the Line?
You may want to see also
Trump's use of campaign funds to pay legal bills
Since leaving office, former US President Donald Trump has been involved in numerous civil and criminal legal cases, which have resulted in legal fees of over $100 million. To cover these costs, Trump has used campaign donations from supporters, rather than dipping into his personal funds.
Trump's supporters donated more than $250 million to an "election defence fund" following his 2020 election loss and allegations of voter fraud. This money was split between two Political Action Campaigns (PACs): the Make America Great Again (MAGA) PAC, and the Save America PAC.
By early 2024, the Save America PAC was running out of money, and was bailed out by the MAGA Inc. PAC via a refund of previous donations. MAGA Inc. is a super PAC, which means it can raise and spend unlimited amounts of funds, unlike regular PACs, which are subject to limits.
Trump's legal fees have been used to cover cases directly connected to his actions while campaigning for the presidency, as well as cases unrelated to his time in office, such as civil and criminal fraud probes into his business in New York.
Some of the lawyers Trump has hired work on both his personal cases and political ones, making it difficult to know exactly where the money is going. This includes the firm Chris Kise and Associates, which has been involved in both the New York civil fraud investigation and the classified documents case.
While it is permissible for candidates to spend money from their campaign committees on legal fees directly related to their campaign or time in office, it is not clear whether Trump's spending on legal fees falls into this category. Some argue that cases such as the classified documents case are outside the scope of his role and therefore should not be covered by campaign funds.
Trump's use of PAC money to cover legal expenses tests the boundaries of current laws, but due to loopholes in campaign finance law and a lack of enforcement by the Federal Elections Commission, it is unlikely that he will face any repercussions.
The Question of Emily Murphy's Law-Breaking
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
Trump allegedly broke campaign finance laws by using campaign funds to pay legal bills, including those related to personal matters, and by falsifying business records related to hush-money payments to conceal extramarital affairs during the 2016 election campaign.
Trump was indicted on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in the first degree, and he is also accused of violating the Federal Election Campaign Act.
The evidence against Trump includes witness testimony, fake legal invoices, and his own statements. In addition, his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance crimes in conjunction with the hush-money payments and implicated Trump in his testimony.
