The answer depends on which of two competing paradigms for presidential wrongdoing the Cohen payoffs ultimately fall into.
For Trump’s critics, the paradigm is Watergate. While running for office, they will say, Trump knowingly directed a secret violation of campaign-finance laws. Then Trump and Cohen covered up their crimes by lying about the payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal and how they were structured and delivered.
For Trump’s defenders — including Trump — the paradigm is the Monica Lewinsky affair. Like President Bill Clinton, they will say, Trump engaged in sexual conduct that he wanted to keep secret. Like Clinton, runs the argument, Trump engaged in some mildly shady but understandable conduct to cover his tracks. An out-of-control special prosecutor tried to make the molehill into a mountain, but in essence, as Trump told Reuters, he “hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Which paradigm is closer to the truth? There are meaningful points of similarity in each.
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