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George's Reads
On Wednesday night, Rudy Giuliani, newly minted member of Donald Trump's legal team, went on Sean Hannity to defend his client against the claim that the $130,000 hush money payment to Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) ran afoul of campaign finance law.
GIULIANI: Having something to do with paying some Stormy Daniels woman $130,000? Which, I mean, is going to turn out to be perfectly legal. That money was not campaign money. Sorry, I’m giving you a fact now that you don’t know. It’s not campaign money. No campaign finance violation.
HANNITY: They funneled it through a law firm.
GIULIANI: They funneled through a law firm, and the president repaid it.
Enter George Conway, Harvard and Yale educated lawyer, husband to Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway and frequent Trump critic on Twitter.
With one succinct tweet, Conway indicated that Giuliani's reading of campaign finance law is flawed:
https://t.co/bsZKAUJpu3 https://t.co/xJgZXrvSuT— George Conway (@George Conway) 1525349871.0
The FEC section that Conway shared reads:
Not considered the candidate's personal funds
Personal gifts and loans
If any person, including a relative or friend of the candidate, gives or loans the candidate money “for the purpose of influencing any election for federal office,” the funds are not considered personal funds of the candidate even if they are given to the candidate directly. Instead, the gift or loan is considered a contribution from the donor to the campaign, subject to the per-election limit and reportable by the campaign. This is true even if the candidate uses the funds for personal living expenses while campaigning.
The implication being that for the purposes of campaign election law, that money can not be considered "personal funds" since Michael Cohen did pay it with the intention of helping Trump's election (as Giuliani would later say on Fox and Friends, "to make it go away" in the lead up to the 2016 election.) And therefore Trump's repayment of the money can not either.
As many on Twitter noted:
In case you were uncertain, Kellyanne Conway’s husband would like you to know the exact campaign finance statute Tr… https://t.co/gA1RX7ETur— Matt McDermott (@Matt McDermott) 1525350743.0
This stunning admission by Rudy Giuliani appears to substantiate a straight up campaign finance law violation by bo… https://t.co/DMy57fIf4S— Ted Lieu (@Ted Lieu) 1525317320.0
This is outrageous: Rudy Giuliani seems to confirm @realDonaldTrump is guilty of campaign finance law violation in… https://t.co/HTMuLDJ7R5— Rep. Jim McGovern (@Rep. Jim McGovern) 1525343880.0
Others jumped on Conway's revelation on Twitter as well.
From George Conway 👇🏼 https://t.co/wVM0bU5BbR— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@Ana Navarro-Cárdenas) 1525359647.0
Noted conservative attorney George Conway tweets FEC guidelines on personal gifts and loans 🤔 https://t.co/h8vmbyHcDx— Jake Tapper (@Jake Tapper) 1525354243.0
Meanwhile, Jack Posobiec, a staunch Trump advocate, also called attention to George Conway's Twitter message but with a bit of commentary claiming the information was a Trump insult.
George Conway never misses a chance to post something nasty about President Trump. Why is that? https://t.co/Xtcr1h3lR1— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸) 1525352707.0
No matter where people fell on the political spectrum, there were plenty of opinions about George's latest legal advice.
@JackPosobiec He hopes that it will result in Trump firing his wife, ie Mrs Conway.— Simone Laurey (@Simone Laurey) 1525352810.0
KellyAnne Conway's husband George is continuing to make his feelings about this Trump situation known..... In Twe… https://t.co/eVd9kZD6n2— 💙 Koko: Here, right matters✊🏻✊🏽✊🏿💙 (@💙 Koko: Here, right matters✊🏻✊🏽✊🏿💙) 1525351714.0
The fact that George Conway cited this at all is really saying something... https://t.co/DUki7GHDLi— Jeff Mayers (@Jeff Mayers) 1525351947.0
@gtconway3d This should have us all afraid. What does Kellyanne's husband know from the inside so damaging that he'… https://t.co/kSSjDoaliR— Grandma Gretchen (@Grandma Gretchen) 1525351810.0
@gtconway3d @JesseFFerguson Thank you! @realDonaldTrump doesn’t understand the FEC aspect at ALL. Dear Trump: you… https://t.co/5NCMgBnTzy— Elle Bee Are (@Elle Bee Are) 1525350216.0
Some people brought up Giuliani's interview admissions as well as what impact Conway's FEC guidance had on them.
@gtconway3d Giuliani’s statement that @realDonaldTrump reimbursed Cohen for the $130k payment to @StormyDaniels put… https://t.co/ksxrU8W4xm— KSD (@KSD) 1525351626.0
Including one particularly interesting back and forth between Twitter users "David" and "DWW".
@David00542258 @gtconway3d @benshapiro Except Giuliani directly linked the payment to the campaign just this morning.— DWW (@DWW) 1525356159.0
@David00542258 @gtconway3d @benshapiro Here. Gosh, if only there was a way to find articles about this simply by pu… https://t.co/hAvd2blT2V— DWW (@DWW) 1525356916.0
@David00542258 @gtconway3d @benshapiro [maniacal laughter] Out of respect and love for family they laundered a pay… https://t.co/1wOoj4EHbp— DWW (@DWW) 1525358822.0
A few people even called on Kellyanne to comment, but she made it clear in a CNN interview, she didn't want people "going there."
@JackPosobiec @KellyannePolls care to comment? Your husband doesn’t appear to support your career.— The Big Shlomo (@The Big Shlomo) 1525354558.0