President Donald Trump crosses the field after the first half of an NCAA college football game between the Army and the Navy, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018, in Philadelphia. (Photo by MATT ROURKE / AP)
WASHINGTON 鈥� Top House Democrats have raised the prospect of impeachment or the real possibility of prison time for President Donald Trump if it鈥檚 proved that he directed illegal hush money payments to women, adding to the legal pressure on the president over the Russia investigation and other scandals.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the Justice Department may indict him, that he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time,鈥� said Rep. Adam Schiff, the incoming chairman of the House intelligence committee. 鈥淭he bigger pardon question may come down the road as the next president has to determine whether to pardon Donald Trump.鈥�
Rep. Jerry Nadler, the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, described the details in prosecutors鈥� filings Friday in the case of Trump鈥檚 former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as evidence that Trump was 鈥渁t the center of a massive fraud.鈥�
鈥淭hey would be impeachable offenses,鈥� Nadler said.
In the filings, prosecutors in New York for the first time link Trump to a federal crime of illegal payments to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign.
Special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 office also laid out previously undisclosed contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermediaries and suggested the Kremlin aimed early on to influence Trump and his Republican campaign by playing to both his political and personal business interests.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and has compared the investigations to a 鈥渨itch hunt.鈥�
Nadler, Democrat-New York, said it was too early to say whether Congress would pursue impeachment proceedings based on the illegal payments alone because lawmakers would need to weigh the gravity of the offense to justify 鈥渙verturning鈥� the 2016 election.
Nadler and other lawmakers said Sunday they would await additional details from Mueller鈥檚 investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with the Trump campaign to determine the extent of Trump鈥檚 misconduct.
Regarding the illegal payments, 鈥渨hether they are important enough to justify an impeachment is a different question, but certainly they鈥檇 be impeachable offenses because even though they were committed before the president became president, they were committed in the service of fraudulently obtaining the office,鈥� Nadler said.
Mueller has not said when he will complete a report of any findings, and it isn鈥檛 clear that any such report would be made available to Congress. That would be up to the attorney general. Trump on Friday said he would nominate former Attorney General William Barr to the post to succeed Jeff Sessions.
Nadler indicated that Democrats, who will control the House in January, will step up their own investigations. He said Congress, the Justice Department and the special counsel need to dig deeper into the allegations, which include questions about whether Trump lied about his business arrangements with Russians and about possible obstruction of justice.
鈥淭he new Congress will not try to shield the president,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e will try to get to the bottom of this, in order to serve the American people and to stop this massive conspiracy 鈥� this massive fraud on the American people.鈥�
Schiff, Democrat-California, also stressed a need to wait 鈥渦ntil we see the full picture.鈥� He has previously indicated his panel would seek to look into the Trump family鈥檚 business ties with Russia.
鈥淚 think we also need to see this as a part of a broader pattern of potential misconduct by the president, and it鈥檚 that broad pattern, I think, that will lead us to a conclusion about whether it rises to the level to warrant removal from office,鈥� Schiff said.
In the legal filings, the Justice Department stopped short of accusing Trump of directly committing a crime. But it said Trump told Cohen to make illegal payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom claimed to have had affairs with Trump more than a decade ago.
In separate filings, Mueller鈥檚 team detail how Cohen spoke to a Russian who 鈥渃laimed to be a 鈥檛rusted person鈥� in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign 鈥檖olitical synergy鈥� and 鈥檚ynergy on a government level.鈥欌��
搁贰础顿:听Mueller details early Russian outreach to Trump campaign
Cohen said he never followed up on that meeting. Mueller鈥檚 team also said former campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to them about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials, including in 2018.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida called the latest filings 鈥渞elevant鈥� in judging Trump鈥檚 fitness for office but said lawmakers need more information to render judgment. He also warned the White House about considering a pardon for Manafort, saying such a step could trigger congressional debate about limiting a president鈥檚 pardon powers.
Such a move would be 鈥渁 terrible mistake,鈥� Rubio said. 鈥淧ardons should be used judiciously. They鈥檙e used for cases with extraordinary circumstances.鈥�
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine and a member of the Senate intelligence committee, cautioned against a rush to impeachment, which he said citizens could interpret as 鈥減olitical revenge and a coup against the president.鈥�
鈥淭he best way to solve a problem like this, to me, is elections,鈥� King said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a conservative when it comes to impeachment. I think it鈥檚 a last resort and only when the evidence is clear of a really substantial legal violation. We may get there, but we鈥檙e not there now.鈥�
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut urged Mueller to 鈥渟how his cards soon鈥� so that Congress can make a determination early next year on whether to act on impeachment.
鈥淟et鈥檚 be clear: We have reached a new level in the investigation,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for Congress to get all of the underlying facts and data and evidence that the special counsel has.鈥�
Nadler spoke on CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Union鈥� Sunday, Rubio was on CNN and ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week,鈥� and Schiff appeared on CBS鈥� 鈥淔ace the Nation.鈥� Murphy spoke on ABC, and King was on NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press.鈥� /atm