Exclusive: Trump says he is not concerned
about being impeached, defends payments to women
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[December 12, 2018]
By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald
Trump said on Tuesday he was not concerned that he could be impeached
and that hush payments made ahead of the 2016 election by his former
personal attorney Michael Cohen to two women did not violate campaign
finance laws.
"It's hard to impeach somebody who hasn't done anything wrong and who's
created the greatest economy in the history of our country," Trump told
Reuters in an Oval Office interview.
"I'm not concerned, no. I think that the people would revolt if that
happened," he said.
Federal prosecutors in New York said last week that Trump directed Cohen
to make six-figure payments to two women so they would not discuss their
alleged affairs with the candidate ahead of the 2016 presidential
election.
They said the payments violated laws that stipulate that campaign
contributions, defined as things of value given to a campaign to
influence an election, must be disclosed, and limited to $2,700 per
person.
Democrats said such a campaign law violation would be an impeachable
offense, although senior party leaders in Congress have questioned
whether it is a serious enough crime to warrant politically charged
impeachment proceedings.
Impeachment requires a simple majority to pass the House of
Representatives, where Democrats will take control in January. But
removal of the president from office further requires a two-thirds
majority in the Senate, where Trump's fellow Republicans hold sway.
Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday in New York for his role
in the payments to the two women - adult film actress Stormy Daniels and
former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied having affairs
with them.
Earlier this year, Trump acknowledged repaying Cohen for $130,000 paid
to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. He previously
disputed knowing anything about the payments.
'PEANUT STUFF'
Trump has slammed Cohen for cooperating with prosecutors, alleging that
the lawyer is telling lies about him in a bid to get a lighter prison
term. He has called for Cohen to get a long sentence and said on Tuesday
his ex-lawyer should have known the campaign finance laws.
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President Donald Trump sits for an exclusive interview with Reuters
journalists in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington,
U.S. December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
"Michael Cohen is a lawyer. I assume he would know what he's doing,"
Trump said when asked if he had discussed campaign finance laws with
Cohen.
"Number one, it wasn't a campaign contribution. If it were, it's
only civil, and even if it's only civil, there was no violation
based on what we did. OK?"
Asked about prosecutors' assertions that a number of people who had
worked for him met or had business dealings with Russians before and
during his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump said: "The stuff you're
talking about is peanut stuff."
He then sought to turn the subject to his 2016 Democratic opponent.
"I haven't heard this, but I can only tell you this: Hillary Clinton
- her husband got money, she got money, she paid money, why doesn't
somebody talk about that?" Trump said.
The president said he could work with Democrats in Congress, but
suggested that would not happen if they issued subpoenas and pursued
investigations against him.
"We’re going to go down one of two tracks. We’re either going to
start the campaign and they’re going to do presidential harassment.
Or we’re going to get tremendous amounts of legislation passed
working together. There’s not a third track," he said.
"Look, they’ve been looking for two years about collusion. There’s
no collusion," he said.
Trump has dismissed the special counsel's probe into possible
collusion between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia as a
witch hunt.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Additional reporting by
Roberta Rampton; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)
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