{"articles":[{"id":7809,"title":"Your Turn: Trump Team Convictions: What Should Happen Next?","html_content":"

by Causes | 8.22.18

The story

Yesterday, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen and Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort were both convicted of felonies.

Cohen admitted that he paid off pornographic actress Stormy Daniels at Trump’s direction “for the principal purpose of influencing the election,” according to the New York Times.

Analysts have been weighing in ever since on what could happen next.

What they’re saying

The Washington Post offers an extensive analysis of possible next steps. Its primary conclusion is that Cohen’s revelations “could spark calls for impeachment hearings — but probably will not have any legal consequences for the president while he is in office, according to legal analysts.”

“Such an explosive assertion [that Trump broke campaign finance laws] against anyone but the president would suggest that a criminal case could be in the offing, but under long-standing legal interpretations by the Justice Department, the president cannot be charged with a crime.”

These legal interpretations have not been tested in court, so prosecutors could theoretically bring charges anyway, but they’d have to buck the Justice Department’s guidance to do so, says the Post.

The Post notes that Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III has said campaign finance violations such as the Stormy Daniels payoff fall “outside the scope of his mandate to investigate whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia’s operation to influence the vote.”

“That would leave impeachment as the more likely avenue for holding Trump accountable for his alleged role in campaign finance violations in 2016, an unlikely outcome while Republicans hold Congress but a potential agenda item for Democrats should they take control of the House after the midterm elections.”

The Washington Examiner:

“Mueller's cheerleaders in politics and the press will undoubtedly call the Manafort verdict a big win. But in the Trump-Russia 2016 election conspiracy investigation, a real big win would establish the existence of a Trump-Russia 2016 election conspiracy. And the Manafort verdict, like the earlier Mueller cases, doesn't do that.”

The New York Times:

“Mr. Trump has long mocked the investigations as ‘rigged witch hunts,’ pursued by Democrats and abetted by a dishonest news media. But even the president’s staunchest defenders acknowledged privately that the legal setbacks he suffered within minutes of each other could open fissures among Republicans on Capitol Hill and expose Mr. Trump to the possibility of impeachment.”

The Daily Caller:

“[J]ust because a prosecutor says that somebody violated a campaign law doesn’t make it so. He is not the judge. He is not the jury. We didn’t adjudicate anything.”

The Wall Street Journal:

“We doubt Mr. Mueller will indict Mr. Trump as a sitting President, but the ultimate threat to Mr. Trump is political. Congress decides what is an impeachable offense, and if Democrats retake the House in November they will define 'high crimes and misdemeanors.' The Cohen and Manafort convictions raise the stakes for Mr. Trump and his Presidency, but voters may want to see more than evidence about payments to a porn star to overturn the results of a presidential election.”

The Chicago Tribune:

“For Trump and more of his ‘best people,’ the story is still unfolding in the guise of the Russia investigation. Special counsel Robert Mueller is probing Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump committed obstruction by trying to shut down the probe. We await Mueller’s conclusions…

“Two cases against Trump advisers in one afternoon, while Mueller’s independent investigation continues. Tuesday was not the final word on Trump’s presidency. But it spoke volumes.”

What do you think?

What should happen next? Hit Take Action to tell your reps what you think, then share your thoughts below.

—Sara E. Murphy

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / mars58)

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