- [Narrator] Donald Trump is the first former president
to be charged with a crime,
but he isn't the first former presidential candidate
to be indicted
or for that indictment to involve a hush-money payment.
Just over 10 years ago,
Democrat John Edwards stood trial for money
and gifts given to his mistress.
- There's nothing illegal about giving somebody hush-money
not to talk about it.
If it was done specifically for the purpose
of promoting your candidacy for a federal office,
that's where the problem comes in.
- [Narrator] Here's how the two cases compare
and what we can learn about the potential strengths
and weaknesses of the one against Trump from the other.
Let's start with what happened with John Edwards.
A senator from North Carolina,
he became John Kerry's 2004 running mate
before running in the 2008 presidential primary
against Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
He did okay in Iowa but quickly dropped out.
- It's time for me to step aside
so that history
can blaze its path.
- [Narrator] That year, tabloid stories surfaced
about him having a child from an affair,
which, after two years of denying,
- Tabloid trash is full of lies,
- [Narrator] He admitted to.
The scandal had everything.
- Could be the biggest political sex scandal
of our generation.
- I just turned to him and said, "You're so hot."
- [Journalist] Hundreds of thousands of dollars given
to him by supporters.
- [Anderson] Private jet flights and luxury hotel rooms.
- [Journalist] While his wife was battling terminal cancer.
- [Journalist] John Edwards' sex tape details revealed.
- It was a huge scandal at the time.
People loved Elizabeth Edwards.
Elizabeth Edwards really helped
John Edwards' reputation mammothly.
So they really sold themselves as, you know,
a loving, everyday American family.
- [Narrator] Here's what the Justice Department said
happened during the campaign.
Campaign worker Rielle Hunter,
pregnant with John Edwards' daughter
while his wife, Elizabeth, was dying of cancer,
was given cash, luxury hotel stays, apartments,
and rides on private planes by a wealthy member
of his campaign and a wealthy donor
to be kept out of sight.
These were also given to a close aide,
who falsely claimed to be the baby's father.
None of this money came directly through the campaign
or Edwards himself.
Prosecutors argued Edwards orchestrated this web of money
and that the payments were made to help his campaign.
A federal grand jury indicted Edwards
on six federal counts of campaign-finance law violations.
- John Edwards is a lousy human being,
but I think this is a really lousy
and flimsy criminal case.
- [Narrator] Melanie Sloan founded
this government accountability group
and still works in ethics in campaign law.
She followed the Edwards trial closely.
- There was no evidence
that John Edwards personally gave the money.
Regardless of whether that had happened,
there still would've been the question about why.
Is the money a campaign donation?
Is it being spent to advance your candidacy
or is it money being spent to hush this up
for some other reason, I.e. to protect your family?
- While I do not believe I did anything illegal
or ever thought I was doing anything illegal,
I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong.
- [Narrator] New York prosecutors argue, with Trump,
the reason was clearly because of the 2016 election.
Trump denies any wrongdoing.
Here's what prosecutors say happened.
In 2016, porn star Stormy Daniels' lawyer went
to the "National Enquirer,"
yes, that same tabloid,
to sell her story about an alleged sexual encounter
with Trump from a decade prior.
The CEO of the tabloid's publisher, David Pecker,
was able to connect her with Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen,
who eventually paid her $130,000 to keep quiet.
Cohen was later reimbursed by submitting monthly invoices
for legal services,
which were paid by Trump through the Trump Organization.
New York prosecutors say those payment records
were false business records.
- [Melanie] The 34 charges come out
of the same set of facts.
Each time there's an invoice
and each time there's a payment
and each time there's a bookkeeping record,
that is all the crime of falsifying the business records
in order to cover up a crime.
- [Narrator] With Edwards' case,
this donor had died and this one was 100
and never testified.
A jury acquitted him on one charge
and deadlocked on another five.
So, the trial ended in a mistrial.
Jurors said there wasn't enough evidence tying him
to the money.
- We all though that he knew,
but there just was not the evidence there to prove it.
- It was just a lack of evidence.
- [Narrator] With Trump, prosecutors say
they have evidence that he was involved in the payments,
besides Trump's name and signature on the checks,
and that the intent of the payments
was to help his campaign.
Cohen has already pleaded guilty and served time in jail
for these payments being campaign-related.
And prosecutors say Trump directed Cohen
to delay Daniels' payment until after the election,
because then, it would not matter
if the story becomes public.
Prosecutors also point to a similar payment made
to another women, who alleged she had a sexual encounter
with Trump, Karen McDougal.
They say Pecker and Cohen worked out a deal
that ultimately paid McDougal $150,000 for her silence
and that there are audio recordings of Trump and Cohen
discussing this arrangement.
Testimony from Pecker says he made the connections
to the two women to ensure no damaging allegations
would be published before the election
and thereby influence that election.
- The indictment and statement of facts particularly
do not suggest in any way, shape, or form
that this was ever about hiding it from his wife.
In fact, they make it very, very clear
that what they wanna do is hide it during the course
of the presidential election.
- [Narrator] Federal prosecutors,
when charging Cohen on 2019,
declined to indict Trump, who was still in office.
These charges were filed in a New York State court.
Experts like Sloan argue that this case
may not even be as strong as the one against Edwards,
which was in federal court,
even with these connections.
- I don't think this is a slam dunk by any means.
The fact that it's not being a federal case,
that it's actually not being done
by the Justice Department
when you have a federal campaign-finance law
and that it's being bootstrapped into a state court,
that is unprecedented.
- [Narrator] Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges.
He denies the alleged sexual encounters.
- This fake case was brought only to interfere
with the upcoming 2024 election.
And it should be dropped immediately, immediately.
(crowd applauding)
- [Narrator] He's not likely to face jail time if convicted
and the trial, if it happens,
isn't expected to move quickly.
The next court date is in December of 2023.
(light music continues)