Trump said he believes that it would be hard to impeach “somebody who hasn’t done anything wrong and who’s created the greatest economy in the history of our country,” in an exclusive interview with Reuters in the Oval Office.
“I’m not concerned, no. I think that the people would revolt if that happened,” he said.
Trump also slammed his former attorney Michael Cohen, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday in New York, for his role in the payments to two women — adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Federal prosecutors in New York last week claimed 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 also suggested that the payments violated laws, as all campaign contributions must be disclosed and limited to $2,700 per person.
Trump said that Cohen was telling lies to the prosecutors to get a lighter prison term. He called for a longer sentence for Cohen, saying that 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?”
“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.
Democrats had previously called the violation of the campaign rules an impeachable offence, however, senior party leaders in Congress have questioned whether it is a serious enough crime to warrant politically charged impeachment proceedings.
Trump earlier on Monday dismissed all the allegations, pointing out that the transaction was private and wasn’t a campaign contribution.