2. At their heart, presidential elections are relatively simple

Voters learn things about each candidate and then use that info to select their choice -- or decide whether to vote at all

Trump's secret $130,000 payment to Daniels was effort to subvert the democratic process

3. A campaign is a process of shaping the information environment through ads, events, policy announcements, and other activities

But there are basic rules

The underlying principle of is transparency — voters have a right to know what you are saying & doing to get elected

4. If you spend money to benefit your campaign, it must be publicly reported

If you run an ad, you must disclose you paid for it

If Trump is charged, it will be because prosecutors believe he VIOLATED THE LAW TO HIDE RELEVANT INFO FROM VOTERS

https://popular.info/p/why-stormy-daniels-matters?r=2n8ki&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

5. Trump, in a statement released by his 2024 campaign, now says that he was a "victim of an extortion plot, yet he is the one being prosecuted."

This is not what happened.

6. Daniels sought to sell the story about her alleged relationship w/Trump beginning in 2011

Daniels gave Life & Style an extensive interview in exchange for $15,000

That would be an end of it, but Trump bullied Life & Style into killing the story w/legal threats

8. Daniels story became more valuable after the release of the Access Hollywood tape put sexual mores were now at the center of a closely contested campaign

Trump's ability to win the election hinged largely on Trump changing the subject before Election Day

9. Per the "catch-and-kill" agreement, the National Enquirer negotiated to pay Daniels $120,000 to keep her story out of the press in the days before the election

But the tabloid had recently paid 150K to another woman to protect Trump and its publisher, David Pecker, balked

10. Cohen conferred with Trump, and they decided to make the payoff themselves. So Cohen reached an agreement to pay Daniels 130K for her silence.

But he had no idea where to get the money.

So he delayed and delayed and delayed

11. On October 25, 2016, two weeks before Election Day, Daniels' attorney told Cohen that he was canceling the deal and Daniels would shop her story to media outlets

This was dire

Daniels' story would go public AND she could also reveal Trump's botched pay-off effort

12. Had the truth emerged in October 2016, it could have played a decisive role in an election determined by about 70,000 votes across a handful of states

Instead, Cohen drew down 130K from a home equity credit line & transferred it to a shell company which paid Daniels' lawyer

13. There was a great deal of effort to obscure Trump's involvement with the payment. In the non-disclosure agreement itself, Trump was referred to by a pseudonym, David Dennison (DD). A separate side agreement identified Dennison as Trump.

https://popular.info/p/why-stormy-daniels-matters?r=2n8ki&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

14. A few days later, Trump won the presidency.

Trump and Cohen then conspired to hide the reimbursement for Cohen's payment to Daniels.

Cohen submitted fake invoices to the Trump Organization.

Trump himself signed the checks.

17. Trump schemed to conceal relevant information from the voting public in the days before the election, engaged in an elaborate coverup, and then lied about his involvement.

This deceit may have changed the course of history.

https://popular.info/p/why-stormy-daniels-matters?r=2n8ki&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

18. Thanks for making it to the end of this thread.

But don't rely exclusively on this platform, which is controlled by a right-wing billionaire, to get accurate information.

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