but others such as brad smith, former chairman of the fec has said this is not a campaign-related expense. therefore it wasn't a violation of the law to make that payment. ashleyso why would they pursue this so vigorously if the endgame is not illegal? >> well, because look, they were able to force michael cohen into a ply agreement, so they got that but, if they actually have to prosecute this case they would probably lose. they have tried this once before. remember 2011, they tried to prosecute john edwards, former democratic presidential candidate, arguing that his payments to a mistress were campaign-related expenses. they lost. and two other former chairs of the federal election commission at the time told the court that these were not campaign-related excepts. and therefore these rules and restrictions don't apply. ashley: but when you hear given granted immunity, it feels like something up their sleeve. they wouldn't grant it without some gotcha sort of information s that a possibility? >> well, yeah, it certainly could be but i think they're going forward, that is the prosecutor, on the claim that the information he has got about the payments made by c