President Donald Trump "absolutely" did nothing illegal if he gave Michael Cohen money to make $280,000 in hush payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Thursday.
"That has been disputed, but if the president gave the money out of his own pocket he can give a billion dollars," Dershowitz told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "He could have put a billion dollars in the campaign and paying 100 million to women who accused [him] falsely...it wouldn't be a violation of any campaign law as long as [the campaign] reported it."
If Cohen paid the women from his own pocket, effectively making a campaign contribution of $280,000, that would be "on Cohen and not President Trump," said Dershowitz.
Trump said in an interview airing Thursday that he does not see the payment as illegal, and compared the matter to when former President Barack Obama's campaign did not report contributions and had to pay a fine.
Dershowitz also denied statements made by Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis, who said Wednesday there is "no question" that Trump committed a federal crime.
"I'm right and he's wrong," said Dershowitz. "It is as simple as that. I've been teaching law for over 50 years. He is wrong when he says there is no question. Look, Lanny is a great lawyer and good friend of mine, but there is a deep question about whether any crimes were committed by President Trump himself, and I think that we ought to acknowledge that there are serious questions about that."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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