Despite that many campaign finance lawyers have strongly…stated that I did nothing wrong with respect to campaign finance laws, if they even apply, because this was not campaign finance.

Mr. Trump is correct that such payments are not campaign expenses and he’s also correct that many lawyers in the field agree with him. Many people in the press likely also know he is correct—even if it’s hard to tell from current coverage.

Here’s how the Associated Press reportedin 2012 on the results of the Justice Department’s effort to claim that such payments were campaign expenses in the case of a former Democratic senator:

A jury’s refusal to convict John Edwards was less a redemption of the former White House hopeful than a rejection of the Justice Department’s boldest attempt to make an example of someone in the name of enforcing campaign finance laws.

…Before Edwards’ prosecution, no federal candidate had been tried over payments from a third party that flowed to a mistress.

After the Edwards verdict, Chris Matthews of MSNBC opened his television program by saying, “Let me start with this John Edwards trial, this waste of time, money and public attention.”

The Los Angeles Times reported it this way:

The case was unprecedented; no major political candidate has been charged with campaign finance corruption for attempts to hide a mistress…

The chief financial officer for Edwards’ 2008 campaign testified that the Federal Election Commission did not require her to report the payments as campaign contributions — even after Edwards was indicted last year. And a former FEC commissioner, Scott Thomas, testified that in his 37 years of experience, no one had been prosecuted for payments from a third party to cover up an affair.

The New York Times also called it “a case that had no precedent.”The Washington Post observed:

As the investigation proceeded, one Justice official said, “people were squeamish about the theory of the prosecution but were reluctant to interfere with a U.S. attorney in the field.”

…At the time, an array of legal experts, including former prosecutors, questioned the wisdom of bringing the charges against Edwards, saying it was an aggressive interpretation of campaign finance laws.

Upon reflection, some people who defended Mr. Edwards have decided that a potential Trump case makes eminent good sense, especially given the plea agreement by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen…

…but this doesn’t mean interpretations of the law cannot be perverted for the purpose of prosecuting Mr. Trump. If a judge decides that campaign expenditures no longer mean what they obviously mean—printing yard signs, buying ad time on television channels, etc.—and come to be defined as anything helpful to a politician running for office, some may wonder where it could lead. When Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D., Texas) collects a slew of media endorsements during his campaign against Mr. Trump in 2020, must they be reported as in-kind contributions and limited by some estimate of their worth to the campaign?

Perhaps more likely is that an impossible standard will be applied to Mr. Trump alone.“

As evidenced by the hue and cry raised over the same “family separations” which never generated the faintest murmur under Obama, the plain, unvarnished truth is Trump continues to be held…

…to a different standard.  He always has been, and always will be.  This doesn’t make him in any way a saint, but it certainly highlights the hypocrisy, dishonesty and unreasoned animosity of those who unfairly single him out.

After all, he’s never drowned a blond in a pond…

Since we’re on the subject of those, whether individuals or nations, held by Progressives to different standards, as this item from FOX News via Bill Meisen details…

Venezuelans regret gun ban, ‘a declaration of war against an unarmed population‘

“As Venezuela continues to crumble under the socialist dictatorship of President Nicolas Maduro, some are expressing words of warning – and resentment – against a six-year-old gun control bill that stripped citizens of their weapons.

“Guns would have served as a vital pillar to remaining a free people, or at least able to put up a fight,” Javier Vanegas, 28, a Venezuelan teacher of English now exiled in Ecuador, told Fox News. “The government security forces, at the beginning of this debacle, knew they had no real opposition to their force. Once things were this bad, it was a clear declaration of war against an unarmed population.”

Under the direction of then-President Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan National Assembly in 2012 enacted the “Control of Arms, Munitions and Disarmament Law,” with the explicit aim to “disarm all citizens.” The law took effect in 2013, with only minimal pushback from some pro-democracy opposition figures, banned the legal commercial sale of guns and munitions to all – except government entities.

Chavez initially ran a months-long amnesty program encouraging Venezuelans to trade their arms for electrical goods. That year, there were only 37 recorded voluntary gun surrenders, while the majority of seizures – more than12,500 – were by force…”

Yet another reason we’ll always be with Chuck Heston when he exclaimed:

Sorry,…when he exclaimed:

…you damned, dirty Dimocrats!

Meanwhile, the crisis in the Socialist utopia of Venezuela is so acute, families can’t afford to properly bury their dead…

Guess the funeral savings AOC swore Socialized medicine provides only go so far.

And in the Environmental Moment, brought to us today by Jeff Foutch, SeekingAlpha.com reports…

AWS hits bumps in renewable energy

“Amazon Web Services has hit some bumps in its road to its goal of relying solely on renewable energy, according to The Information. AWS made its renewable pledge four years ago and spent the first two years making a spurt of investments. But no new deals have come to light.

Sources say AWS quietly canceled plans for a wind farm in Ohio. And a senior exec told colleagues renewable projects cost too much and don’t win business.“

Thus is Amazon revealed to be like any other company concerned with its bottom line, as epitomized in our favorite scene from The Jerk:

Though we must point out, among other costs, Frosty forgot to figure in his overhead!

Which brings us to The Lighter Side:

Finally, need we remind you there are only 8 days left for you to get that “special someone” the 2nd-greatest gift ever?

For those wondering what always will be the greatest gift ever…

…wonder no further!

Magoo