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Survey of Past Criminal Prosecutions for Covert Payments to Benefit a Political Campaign

https://www.justsecurity.org/85745/survey-of-prosecutions-for-covert-payments-to-benefit-campaigns/

by Siven Watt and Norman L. Eisen

March 30, 2023

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Filed under:
2016 Presidential Elections, Alvin Bragg, campaign finance law, Donald Trump, election law, Hush Money Investigation, Law enforcement, Trump Campaign

Part of Just Security’s work on accountability and election law.

The indictment of former President Donald Trump for conduct involving the alleged concealment of hush money payments to benefit a presidential campaign raises the question whether his case is being treated like other cases. That question is fundamental to ensuring the equal application of the law and protecting free and fair elections. In this essay and accompanying table of cases (the “Table”), we analyze 17 analogous campaign finance and related prosecutions in the State of New York and nationally. Our research shows that third-party payments covertly made to benefit a candidate are routinely and successfully prosecuted as campaign finance violations in New York and elsewhere under a variety of state and federal statutes.

This essay is the fourth in a Just Security series about the Manhattan case and follows our piece demonstrating that New York prosecutors regularly bring and win prosecutions for felony violations of the state’s books and records statute on falsifying business records (New York Penal Code § 175.10), including for conduct far less serious than the allegations against Trump. In this essay we make the same point about surreptitious third-party payments benefiting a candidate or campaign: there is nothing novel about prosecuting them. Quite the opposite.

New York State itself offers a number of important, closely analogous campaign finance cases that resulted in convictions for conduct similar to Trump’s, including falsifying business records. We begin there..........................................................(more)
https://www.justsecurity.org/85745/survey-of-prosecutions-for-covert-payments-to-benefit-campaigns/