Since the New York indictment of Donald Trump was unsealed last week, critics across the political spectrum have noted the legal problems with transforming one hush payment into 34 felonies. But in assessing the seriousness of this case, it is also relevant to ask who was injured by the former president's actions, a question that poses more of a puzzle than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg suggests.
Bragg says Trump "violate[d] state and federal election laws" when he instructed attorney Michael Cohen to pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 shortly before the 2016 presidential election. In exchange, Daniels agreed to refrain from talking to the press about her alleged 2006 affair with Trump.
