Here's Obama's "big campaign finance violation" Trump is using to deflect from the Cohen charges.

[Miles Archer]

Maggie Haberman
‏
Verified account

@maggieNYT

My piece from 2013 on the Obama campaign fine, which was about absence of required 48-hour notices within the 20-day window of the '08 election. Trump is equating this to Cohen to payment of Stormy Daniels, allegedly at Trump direction

Link to tweet

Obama 2008 campaign fined $375,000
By MAGGIE HABERMAN 01/04/2013 03:48 PM EST

https://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/obama-2008-campaign-fined-375000-085784

President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign was fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for campaign reporting violations — one of the largest fees ever levied against a presidential campaign, POLITICO has learned.

The fine — laid out in detail in FEC documents that have yet to be made public — arose from an audit of the campaign, which was published in April. POLITICO obtained a copy of the conciliation agreement detailing the fine, which was sent to Sean Cairncross, the chief lawyer for the Republican National Committee, one of the groups that filed complaints about the campaign’s FEC reporting from 2008.

“$375,000 is a huge fine,” said Republican election lawyer Jason Torchinsky. “It may one of their top five- or 10-largest fines.”

But he added, “They’re also the first billion-dollar presidential campaign. Proportionally, it’s not out of line.”

[madaboutharry]

1. Basically, the FEC was enforcing paperwork requirements.

In Trump's mash potato mind, late and sloppy paperwork is the same as illegal hush money payments. OK, whatever.

[Miles Archer]

3. Pretty much.

A filing error, or paying hush money to a porn star. It's basically the same thing.

I wonder if Trump is aware of the Internet. I mean, he knows his tweets go somewhere, but I wonder if he knows about all of the other fact-checking info that can be accessed in mere seconds.

[uponit7771]

5. +1, with no intent to influence the 2012 election like paying someone to keep quite about something

... would

[forgotmylogin]

9. In the clear without other surrounding crimes, it's *not* that a big deal.

It's like one of us paying a penalty for filing taxes late. That happened to me last year when I didn't receive paperwork for a debt forgiveness and thus didn't realize I owed taxes on it.

Or running a stop sign and getting a ticket. So long as you don't have a dead body, drugs, or immigrants in your trunk, it's a slap on the wrist and no big deal.

[gratuitous]

2. Is Trump losing Maggie Haberman?

Tread carefully, Donald.

[uponit7771]

4. Obama didn't use the funds with intent to influence an election, this is winger world's red herring.

[Caliman73]

6. Perspective...in crazy right winger land, the two are perfectly equal in severity.

If this was 1970, we'd all be watching this on the 3 networks, reporting the same information and then doing some analysis. Now, we have a whole universe of right wing media that is already equating this paperwork error to Trump's felonious behavior to influence the election.

[uponit7771]

8. +1

[SDJay]

7. And It Was All Downhill From There...

the tan suit, saluting that soldier with the coffee cup in his hand...

Thank goodness America is so great again!

It really boggles my mind when I think about what constituted a 'scandal' under President Obama compared to the POS who's besmirching the office now.

[wishstar]

10. But unlike Trump, Obama did not personally direct his attorney to commit campaign violation

and as Cohen lawyer Lanny Davis said, Trump also attempted to cover up the crime with subterfuge in the way the women were paid so there is no equilvalence whatsoever since Obama was not directly involved in the rule violation technicality