Second, criminal blackmail excludes legal processes.
Third, she didn't threaten trump, she tried to sell her story after he lied to her about being a contestant on the apprentice.
https://www.scrofanolaw.com/federal-blackmail-and-extortion/
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/19/nyregion/trump-stormy-dan...
I’m not exactly what you mean when you say that “criminal blackmail excludes legal process,” but if you mean that threatening to go to the police with evidence of a crime if the criminal does not give you something of value, you are absolutely mistaken.
Threatening to go to the police without seeking something of value for your silence is certainly legal, but the moment you try to sell your silence you’re going to be wandering around in the vicinity of extortion.
It seems more likely that this is pretty routine with Trump and had not much to do with the campaign. I doubt he started sleeping with hot women only after deciding to run for president; and there is probably a lot of money in it for the women. One of the perks of dating billionaires.
There was so much crap spewed about Trump this would not have affected the campaign in any way. If all the other crap didn't damage, why would they believe that would? He wanted to keep his private life private. She wasn't paid off until the month before the election. It was VERY clear by that point the affair would have little affect on the election.
He also doesn't have a history of hush money payments, but rather openly admitting, even inventing scandals about his love life (he claimed he was dating Madonna ffs). So why all of a sudden would he pay hush money and try to cover up the hush money in an illegal scheme? Nothing to do with the election a few days away? Really?
