‘It’s the only excuse they’ll need’: Legal blows fuel impeachment fears
The conviction of Trump’s former campaign chairman, guilty plea of his former personal lawyer and indictment of a leading congressional supporter raise Trump’s risks.
By CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO, ANDREW RESTUCCIA, NANCY COOK and DANIEL LIPPMAN
08/21/2018 08:16 PM EDT
President Donald Trump and his allies were armed with a quick response to former campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s guilty verdict – it had nothing to do with Russian collusion, and nothing to do with Trump.
But Michael Cohen’s simultaneous bombshell guilty plea on Tuesday, in which he admitted paying hush money to women just before the 2016 election at Trump’s direction, poses a greater risk to the president.
“The verdict in the Manafort trial isn’t nearly as worrisome to me as the Cohen agreement and the Cohen statement,†said former Trump adviser Michael Caputo. “It’s probably the worst thing so far in this whole investigation stage of the presidency.â€
One Republican lawyer close to the White House worried that Cohen – with his unique access to Trump’s history of business dealings and scandalous personal entanglements – could ultimately prove more damaging to Trump, and give Democrats fodder for impeachment if they take the House in November. “It’s the only excuse they’ll need,†the lawyer said. “And believe me, they won’t need much of an excuse.â€
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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/21/trump-cohen-manafort-impeachment-legal-791009