Let's pretend that the pestitudes were former employees that Trump had a problem with and told Cohen to "clean it up - pay them off".

Cohen uses his own money and pays them off and later Trump reimburses Cohen.

Let''s say Trump had a problem with a contractor whose work Trump was not pleased with and the contractor threatened to get nasty. Cohen pays him off to make him go away and trump pays Cohen back.

Where is the crime?

Remember - Cohen's wife co-signed those tax returns making her equally liable for the tax fraud charges. They threatened to send his wife to prison!