By now our readers have certainly been made aware of the patently political indictment issued against former President Donald Trump.
Trump is now the first former President to be indicted after a Manhattan grand jury investigating the circumstances around hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels voted to do so.
He also just so happens to be the leading Republican candidate for President.
This biased prosecution is historic in nature, making it difficult to compare and analyze.
But two incidents involving former presidential candidates might shed some light and, as you’ll see, as Democrats they were treated a little bit differently.
John Edwards Acquitted on Campaign Finance Violation
John Edwards was a frontrunner at one point during the 2008 Democrat primary. He would finish second in the Iowa Caucuses that year to then-Senator Barack Obama, and ahead of Hillary Clinton.
He was on a short list of possible candidates to be selected as Vice President on Obama’s campaign.
It all came tumbling down for Edwards when his campaign was eventually derailed by extramarital affair allegations involving actress Rielle Hunter. An affair he would eventually admit to and which had yielded a child.
Edwards’ affair with Hunter took place while his wife Elizabeth was battling cancer.
Support Conservative Voices!
Sign up to receive the latest political news, insight, and commentary delivered directly to your inbox.
Following a two-year investigation, Edwards was indicted by a federal grand jury in North Carolina on six felony charges stemming from efforts to conceal the affair by using campaign contributions.
He was accused by the Justice Department of funneling nearly $1 million in donations to his pregnant mistress.
Edwards was acquitted on one campaign finance violation charge while the others resulted in mistrials. The DOJ would later drop the charges and decline to pursue a retrial.
Interestingly, this case parallels Trump in some manner, but it might also provide the GOP frontrunner a defense.
Edwards successfully argued that the payments to persuade someone alleging an affair to go away amount to private transactions. The idea was that the gifts were given to keep the scandal quiet, and would have taken place if he were running for President or not.
Hillary Clinton Paid Fine For Campaign Finance Violation, Was Never Indicted
In more recent events, but perhaps a less apples-to-oranges comparison, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) were fined thousands of dollars over undisclosed campaign payments for the infamous “Steele dossier.”
The DNC was ordered to pay $105,000 by the Federal Election Commission while Clinton’s campaign was fined $8,000 for failing to properly disclose spending on the controversial dossier.
The DNC and Hillary’s campaign reportedly misled on the reasoning behind financing the dossier, “claiming it was for legal services, not opposition research.”
Neither the campaign nor the party conceded to any wrongdoing but agreed to pay the fines as a means to settle the situation.
Which is interesting if you think about it. Clinton was able to “settle” her campaign finance situation – in which she paid a foreign spy to try to defeat her political rival – without drawing a grand jury indictment.
By now our readers have certainly been made aware of the patently political indictment issued against former President Donald Trump.
Trump is now the first former President to be indicted after a Manhattan grand jury investigating the circumstances around hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels voted to do so.
He also
just so happens to be the leading Republican candidate for President.
This biased prosecution is historic in nature, making it difficult to compare and analyze.
But two incidents involving former presidential candidates might shed some light and, as you’ll see, as Democrats they were treated a little bit differently.
John Edwards Acquitted on Campaign Finance Violation
John Edwards was a frontrunner at one point during the 2008 Democrat primary. He would finish second in the Iowa Caucuses that year to then-Senator Barack Obama, and ahead of Hillary Clinton.
He was on a short list of possible candidates to be selected as Vice President on Obama’s campaign.
It all came tumbling down for Edwards when his campaign was eventually derailed by extramarital affair allegations involving actress Rielle Hunter. An affair he would eventually admit to and which had yielded a child.
Edwards
’ affair with Hunter took place while his wife Elizabeth was battling cancer.
Support Conservative Voices!
Sign up to receive the latest political news, insight, and commentary delivered directly to your inbox.
By subscribing, you agree to receive emails from ThePoliticalInsider.com and that you’ve read and agree to our privacy policy and to our terms and conditions. You further agree that the use of reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google Privacy and Terms of Use.
Following a two-year investigation, Edwards was indicted by a federal grand jury in North Carolina on six felony charges stemming from efforts to conceal the affair by using campaign contributions.
He was accused by
the Justice Department of funneling nearly $1 million in donations to his pregnant mistress.
Edwards was acquitted on one campaign finance violation charge while the others resulted in mistrials. The DOJ would later drop the charges and decline to pursue a retrial.
Interestingly, this case parallels Trump in some manner, but it might also provide the GOP frontrunner a defense.
Edwards successful
ly argued that the payments to persuade someone alleging an affair to go away amount to private transactions. The idea was that the gifts were given to keep the scandal quiet, and would have taken place if he were running for President or not.
Hillary Clinton Paid Fine For Campaign Finance Violation, Was Never Indicted
In more recent events, but perhaps a less apples-to-oranges comparison, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) were fined thousands of dollars over undisclosed campaign payments for the infamous “Steele dossier.”
The DNC was ordered to pay $105,000 by the Federal Election Commission while Clinton’s campaign was fined $8,000 for failing to properly disclose spending on the controversial dossier.
The DNC and Hillary’s campaign reportedly misled on the reasoning behind financing the dossier, “claiming it was for legal services, not opposition research.”
Neither the campai
gn nor the party conceded to any wrongdoing but agreed to pay the fines as a means to settle the situation.
Which is interesting if you think about it. Clinton was able to “settle” her campaign finance situation – in which she paid a foreign spy to try to defeat her political rival – without drawing a grand jury indictment.
Sign up to receive the latest political news, insight, and commentary delivered directly to your inbox.
Rusty Weiss is a freelance writer focusing on the conservative movement and its political agenda. He has been following and analyzing the political climate for several years, and his writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, FoxNews.com and more.
Leave a Comment
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.
Support Conservative Media
Don’t let liberals in media silence conservatives. Please donate what you can today!
By now our readers have certainly been made aware of the patently political indictment issued against former President Donald Trump.
Trump is now the first former President to be indicted after a Manhattan grand jury investigating the circumstances around hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels voted to do so.
He also just so happens to be the leading Republican candidate for President.
This biased prosec
ution is historic in nature, making it difficult to compare and analyze.
But two incidents involving former presidential candidates might shed some light and, as you’ll see, as Democrats they were treated a little bit differently.
John Edwards Acquitted on Campaign Finance Violation
John Edwards was a frontrunner at one point during the 2008 Democrat primary. He would finish second in the Iowa Caucuses that year to then-Senator Barack Obama, and ahead of Hillary Clinton.
He was on a short list of possible candidates to be selected as Vice President on Obama’s campaign.
It all came tumbling down for Edwards when his campaign was eventually derailed by extramarital affair allegations involving actress Rielle Hunter. An affair he would eventually admit to and which had yielded a child.
Edwards’ af
fair with Hunter took place while his wife Elizabeth was battling cancer.
Support Conservative Voices!
Sign up to receive the latest political news, insight, and commentary delivered directly to your inbox.
By subscribing, you agree to receive emails from ThePoliticalInsider.com and that you’ve read and agree to our privacy policy and to our terms and conditions. You further agree that the use of reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google Privacy and Terms of Use.
Following a two-year investigation, Edwards was indicted by a federal grand jury in North Carolina on six felony charges stemming from efforts to conceal the affair by using campaign contributions.
Edwards was acquitted on one campaign finance violation charge while the others resulted in mistrials. The DOJ would later drop the charges and decline to pursue a retrial.
Interestingly, this case parallels Trump in some manner, but it might also provide the GOP frontrunner a defense.
Edwards successfully argued t
hat the payments to persuade someone alleging an affair to go away amount to private transactions. The idea was that the gifts were given to keep the scandal quiet, and would have taken place if he were running for President or not.
Hillary Clinton Paid Fine For Campaign Finance Violation, Was Never Indicted
In more recent events, but perhaps a less apples-to-oranges comparison, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) were fined thousands of dollars over undisclosed campaign payments for the infamous “Steele dossier.”
The DNC was ordered to pay $105,000 by the Federal Election Commission while Clinton’s campaign was fined $8,000 for failing to properly disclose spending on the controversial dossier.
The DNC and Hillary’s campaign reportedly misled on the reasoning behind financing the dossier, “claiming it was for legal services, not opposition research.”
Neither the campaign nor the
party conceded to any wrongdoing but agreed to pay the fines as a means to settle the situation.
Which is interesting if you think about it. Clinton was able to “settle” her campaign finance situation – in which she paid a foreign spy to try to defeat her political rival – without drawing a grand jury indictment.
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.