In an interview he gave this week to Reuters, President Donald Trump swore he wasn’t the least bit concerned that he’d be impeached for any of the alleged crimes he committed during the 2016 campaign, commenting:
“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.
“I’m not concerned, no. I think that the people would revolt if that happened.”
But as with nearly everything Trump says, the reality is considerably different from the bravado in his words.
NBC News is reporting that Trump has told friends he’s very concerned that impeachment is in his future:
“(Trump) has told people close to him in recent days that he is alarmed by the prospect, according to multiple sources.
“‘The entire question about whether the president committed an impeachable offense now hinges on the testimony of two men: David Pecker and Allen Weisselberg, both cooperating witnesses in the SDNY investigation,’ a close Trump ally told NBC News.”
Pecker is CEO of American Media Inc., publisher of The National Enquirer. Weisselberg serves as chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. Both have been granted immunity in exchange for their cooperation with prosecutors investigating possible crimes committed by the president and members of his family.
The president’s once rock-solid support among Republicans in Congress also seems to be wavering. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) told reporters on Tuesday:
“Am I concerned that the president might be involved in a crime? The only question is, then, whether or not this so-called hush money is a crime.”
And Florida Senator Marco Rubio echoed Cassidy, noting:
“If someone has violated the law, the application of the law should be applied to them like it would to any other citizen in this country, and obviously if you’re in a position of great authority like the presidency that would be the case.”
On the other side of the aisle, while most Democrats have been unwilling to talk about impeachment in public, incoming House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) recently remarked that Trump may well have committed “impeachable offenses.” Articles of impeachment would have to originate in the judiciary committee before being send to the full House for a vote.
Trump is reportedly infuriated by recent developments in the investigation and other pressing matters that demand his attention:
“The president has been on a days-long tirade, sources tell NBC News, lashing out at his own staff and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, frustrated by the threat of a Democratic House with subpoena power, an array of looming congressional investigations, multiple intensifying federal probes, a botched effort to find a new chief of staff and a potential partial government shutdown over a lack of funding for his top campaign promise — a border wall.”
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