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Reuters

US President Donald Trump said he was not concerned that he could be impeached and that hush payments made ahead of the 2016 election by his former personal lawyer 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.
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani also declared in August that the “American people would revolt” against impeachment.
“President Trump is completely cleared,” he said.
“You’d only impeach him for political reasons.”
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 US$2,700 per person.
Democrats said such a campaign law violation would be an impeachable offence, although senior party leaders in Congress have questioned whether it is a serious enough crime to warrant politically charged impeachment proceedings.
Donald Trump accused of ‘temper tantrum’ after on-camera argument with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer over Mexico border wall
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 was expected 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.
Russia probe: Robert Mueller recommends no jail time for Michael Flynn. What has he revealed about Donald Trump?
Earlier this year, Trump acknowledged repaying Cohen for US$130,000 paid to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. He previously disputed knowing anything about the payments.
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.
“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.
Additional reporting by The Washington Post


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Donald Trump

Donald Trump claims ‘people will revolt’ if he’s impeached

FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2018, file photo, Michael Cohen walks out of federal court in New York. The moment of reckoning has nearly arrived for Cohen, who finds out Wednesday, Dec. 12, whether his decision to walk away from President Donald Trump after years of unwavering loyalty will spare him from a harsh prison sentence. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)

U.S. 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

FILE PHOTO: Stormy Daniels, the porn star currently in legal battles with U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a ceremony in her honor in West Hollywood, California, U.S., May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP

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In a Reuters interview, Trump spoke out for the first time about new documents filed by prosecutors detailing the alleged crimes of his former lawyer, Michael Cohen
Cohen has said he made hush payments to two women accusing Trump of infidelity in the waning days of the 2016 campaign


‘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-Russia collusion investigations