Giuliani: Covering up fucking is not a crime

[Cyrano]

That’s what Giuliani said this morning (cleaned up a bit) to George Stephanapolis on ABC’s, “This Week.”

“If there’s another purpose it’s not a campaign contribution,” the president’s lawyer insisted. “Suppose he tried to use campaign funds to pay Stormy Daniels. It wouldn’t be illegal. These are not campaign contributions.”

“I’m disgusted with the Southern District,” Giuliani complained. “See what we’re talking about, it’s not a crime. It’s not a crime, George. Paying $130,000 to Stormy whatever and the other one is not a crime.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/giuliani-melts-defending-trump-lies-cohen-unless-youre-god-youll-never-know-truth/

So I guess that the whole Bill Clinton thing was just Republicans running amok trying to impeach and throw out a president over a bj. Was Rudy outraged about that?

[LuckyCharms]

1. If Trump or Guiliani do the fucking, I want it covered up. With a tarp. n/t

[ProudLib72]

2. Thou shalt not commit adultery

Hear that evilgelicals?

Bunch of hypocritical assholes!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Isn't that exactly what they impeached Bill Clinton for?

Lying about an affair?

[MineralMan]

6. But, see, that's different. He's a Democrat. A goddamned liberal, too.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Oh, yeah, I forgot. That makes all the difference.

[Eliot Rosewater]

4. And there is of course no comparison to having consensual sex, lying about it, or

having said sex then paying someone a modest fortune to cover it up 2 weeks before an election.

[D_Master81]

5. He's right

Just covering up sex isnt a crime. But does anyone think he's paying off women for sex that was a decade in the past for anything other than for the purpose of the campaign? I want 1, just 1 reporter to challenge this narrative and ask why he didnt pay them off at the time it happened instead of 1 month before the election if its truly not campaign related.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Covering up sex IS a crime if you're a Democratic president.

Just ask Bill C.

[Zambero]

9. Yes, however covering up fellatio is a VERY BIG crime

An impeachable one according to Gingrich, Delay, Livingston, Henry Hyde, and countless other GOP icons of virtue.

[Cyrano]

15. If only congressional pages would speak up about

their sexual encounters with congressional critters. Just guessing here, but much of it might be XXX rated.

[Jarqui]

10. Still reviewing some 1990s Giuliani interview on Clinton video

https://charlierose.com/videos/17662

President Clinton legal discussion starts at 39:30 for about 11 mins

there is definitely some useful material there

[Initech]

12. No but covering up gross misuse of campaign finance is.

[LakeArenal]

13. "Paying Stormy Whatever and the other"

Such an empathetic charmer......

[onenote]

14. Giuliani is 100 percent wrong.

Giuliani claims that it wouldn't have been illegal for Trump to use campaign funds to pay off Daniels because there was "another" (i.e., unrelated to the campaign) purpose for the payment. But that's simply wrong. Campaigns can't take campaign money and use them for purposes unrelated to the campaign (i.e., personal purposes).

The problem with the payoffs was that they were for a campaign-related purpose. And while the campaign could have paid them out of campaign funds (and reported the expenditure), it couldn't ask someone for a $150,000 contribution to make the payment, because that would exceed the contribution limits. And it couldn't ask someone to pay Daniels directly, because that's an in-kind contribution in excess of the limits.

Consider the following example: Trump wants his campaign to purchase $150,000 worth of MAGA caps to distribute to supporters at a rally. The campaign can buy them directly out of funds legally contributed (i.e., contributions that did not exceed the $2700 limit and were duly reported). What he can't do is (i) have someone give him a $150,000 contribution that he then uses to buy the hats or (ii) direct someone to buy the hats and give them to the campaign to distribute or (iii) direct someone to buy the hats and distribute them on behalf of the campaign. This third scenario is essentially what Trump did with the payoffs.

[struggle4progress]

16. from "A New Hymnal for Republican Evangelicals"