NPR (AUDIO): Trump Hush-Money Allegations

But earlier this week, President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison. Cohen and the publisher of The National Enquirer admitted that they paid hush money during the presidential campaign to women who said that they had had sexual encounters with Mr. Trump.

Now, similar things have happened before in politics, but it takes a lot to end up with a sentence like Cohen’s, and President Trump is insisting that none of it was criminal. NPR’s Peter Overby has this report.

PETER OVERBY, BYLINE: Cohen has pleaded guilty to a campaign finance violation. But Friday, on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” he put it all on his old boss Donald Trump.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “GOOD MORNING AMERICA”)

MICHAEL COHEN: He directed me to make the payments. He directed me to become involved in these matters. ….

OVERBY: Hans von Spakovsky is a conservative lawyer, a former member of the Federal Election Commission. He said the law would apply to Edwards’ hush money case because everything was happening within the campaign.

HANS VON SPAKOVSKY: We have a situation with Edwards where it was actually contributors, people who had maxed out to Edwards’ campaign, who put up a million dollars for Edwards’ mistress, who was actually working for the campaign as a videographer.

OVERBY: But at the watchdog group Common Cause, attorney Paul Seamus Ryan disagrees. He said Edwards seemed to be trying to hide the affair from his wife. By contrast, Ryan said, Cohen, Daniels, McDougal and the publisher all seemed to agree on one thing.

PAUL SEAMUS RYAN: Everyone involved in this matter, except for Donald Trump, who’s on the record so far has said the purpose was to influence the election. There was no ambiguity. There is no doubt.

OVERBY: Ryan had a fact to add.

RYAN: Hey, this wasn’t Cohen and Trump’s first rodeo. They’ve had a brush with this area of campaign finance law in the past.