Popular Information: “The facts are that he broke campaign finance laws and that he lied to cover it up,” Fox News’ Sean Hannity said…
Hannity was not talking about former President Donald Trump, who was indicted last week for funneling $130,000 to his alleged mistress, Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors in Manhattan are expected to allege that Trump violated campaign finance laws by not reporting the payment as a campaign contribution and then falsified business records as part of a coverup. The precise charges will remain under seal until Trump is formally arraigned on Tuesday.
The quote from Hannity, from June 3, 2011, refers to former presidential candidate and former senator John Edwards (D-NC), who was indicted that day on charges similar to those Trump now faces….
Hannity also regularly featured guests arguing that Edwards had committed a serious crime. Hannity’s June 3, 2011 program featured former prosecutor Kelly Saindon, who had this to say about Edwards’ conduct:
Yes, he’s going to go to jail and he should be indicted. He knew what he was doing was wrong. He was diverting campaign money. He was complicit in making sure that he hid his affair. He lied to us about it and he is going to end up serving jail time for this. Whether or not he knew it was wrong and against the law, which I believe he did know it was against the law, he is going to jail because you are charged with knowing the laws that apply to you. That applied and he broke the law.
On May 31, 2012, the jury in the Edwards case deadlocked on most charges, and the judge declared a mistrial. In response, Hannity continued to argue that Edwards was guilty because he was using money in excess of the campaign limits to cover up an affair during the campaign. “[I]f we look at this very closely, a campaign contribution, anything of value… for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election,” Hannity said, “So weren’t they trying to basically… circumvent the law?””