A former Watergate prosecutor said late Tuesday that the guilty plea from President Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, showcases “clear evidence” that Trump committed crimes and that he should be impeached.
“This is clear evidence that the president committed crimes and that is grounds for impeachment, there is no question of it,” assistant Watergate special prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks said on MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.”
“I know that he will defend on saying, ‘but this isn’t Russia.’ Well I don’t care that it’s not Russia. It’s not Russia-gate, but it’s still Trump-gate.”
Wine-Banks later added that these are “crimes by the president of the United States and it affected the election.”
{mosads}Her comments came just hours after Cohen pleaded guilty to eight federal charges, including five counts of tax evasion and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.
Cohen also pleaded guilty to one count of making an excessive campaign contribution, which occurred on Oct. 27, 2016 — the same day that Cohen finalized a payment to Stormy Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement over an affair Daniels claims she had with Trump. Trump has repeatedly denied the accusation.
Cohen said on Tuesday that he made the payment after being directed to by “the candidate.” He did not mention Trump by name.
The plea agreement is being viewed by many observers as a potentially significant blow to the president. Wine-Banks added that millions of people might not have voted for Trump had they known the truth about this event.
“We can’t get restitution for that, there’s no way” she said. “But we could get some relief from this presidency.”