Some commentators claim Edwards was vindicated, and that his case shows that his alleged activities would not amount to a crime. That’s wrong. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous conclusion on five of six counts Edwards faced, and acquitted him on a count related to a payment made after he had dropped out of the presidential race. The law is still a strong one that regulates all federal elections. The failure of Edwards’ prosecution boils down to weaknesses in some of the claims the government made and evidence against him.

Indeed, Common Cause has alleged very similar violations of law by Trump in our DOJ and FEC complaints. Specifically, we allege that Trump violated federal law by receiving illegal contributions from Cohen and AMI in the form of payments made to McDougal and Daniels, and by failing to report these contributions to the FEC.

These campaign finance laws apply only to payments made “for the purpose of influencing an election,” a phrase that’s critical to the statutory definitions of “contribution” and “expenditure.” Several factual distinctions make the case against Trump stronger than was the case against Edwards, specifically with respect to any asserted “personal not political” defense.