NBC: Campaign Finance Experts: Trump, Giuliani Comments Could Backfire
President Donald Trump's admitted reimbursement to his lawyer for a payment to Stormy Daniels days before the election could violate campaign finance laws, experts told NBC News.
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"Rudy's reference this morning to the debate makes the electoral purpose of this payment clearer than it already was," said Brendan Fischer, the director of FEC reform at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan group focused on campaign finance and elections.
Meanwhile, the experts agreed that even if there wasn't reason to believe Trump committed any campaign finance violations, there likely would have still been multiple violations by Cohen and the Trump campaign committee.
"One, Cohen would have violated campaign finance law by making a $130,000 payment, which is in excess of the $2,700 personal limit; two, the Trump campaign would have violated law by accepting an excessive contribution and also by failing to report it," Fischer said. "And assuming that Trump paid back Cohen, they would have violated (campaign finance) law by failing to report his reimbursement if Cohen was acting entirely independently and Trump knew nothing about it."