Trump paid off two porn stars and he didn't just use his own money. He facilitated a payment by the National Enquirer to Karen McDougal -- so that's possibly an illegal corporate campaign contribution. Michael Cohen paid off Stormy Daniels personally and then Trump later reimbursed him through fraudulent bills for "legal services." Even though Cohen was later reimbursed, it's still illegal to make a personal contribution that exceeds the legal limit -- and it would be illegal to direct that kind of payment. Additionally, even if Trump paid these women off himself, he would still need to have disclosed those campaign expenditures (which he didn't do). You can read more in the Cohen sentencing memo.  John Edwards was acquitted because the jury couldn't decide whether his intent with the payments was to influence the election. But a jury decides questions of fact not law, so a jury decision isn't binding on any other cases. Maybe the jury in the Edwards case got it right, maybe they got it wrong. The key question for Trump is whether the intent of the payments was to influence the election. So, for example, what kinds of statements did Trump make in these secretly recorded conversations with Cohen? Why did the National Enquirer decide to help him "trap and kill stories" -- was it to save embarrassment in his marriage or was it to help his campaign?  The bottom line here is that if Trump weren't president right now, he would probably already have been indicted for a federal crime.