Ken WhiteI’m in Rolling Stone on the indictment
Saren@Popehat I wonder, what underlying crime/fraud do you think Trump himself thought he was covering up? Because he sure seems to have gone out of his way to hide the nature of the payments and the fact that he was the one responsible for them. It couldn’t have been merely that he was embarrassed because he himself said that he didn’t care if people found out about the affairs after Election Day.
Doctor Biobrain@saren @Popehat I don't think he went out of his way. Cohen or whoever set it all up and all they did was write business checks that sealed his guilt. I think he just wanted the tax deduction.
Had Trump used personal money to buy Bitcoin laundered through a crypto mixer he'd probably be fine.
Or just do nothing. I don't think this scandal would have made any difference for his election and he'd have been much better off if he had lost.
@biobrain @Popehat I disagree with that characterization. Did you read the statement of facts? Trump was much more involved than that, including in the original meeting in 2015 when he asked Pecker and Cohen to catch and kill any stories like this that might hurt his electoral chances. He just was using his usual mob-boss-like approach of trying to keep himself one step removed from any of it. Why would he do that unless he believed he was doing something illegal?