WASHINGTON, D.C.—With the Democratic party regaining control of the United States House of Representatives in last week’s midterm elections, numerous congressional committees are set to begin investigations into a wide variety of potential scandals and alleged offenses committed by Donald Trump. But while, according to The Washington Post, Democratic leaders say they will resist calls to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump, there is at least one scandal that could, in fact, lead to impeachment, according to one high-ranking Democratic House Rep.
According to New York Rep. Jerold Nadler, who will take over the chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee in January, the “hush money” payoff to Stormy Daniels, as well as similar payment made to silence former Playboy centerfold model Karen McDougal, may constitute impeachable offenses.
On Friday, as AVN.com reported, new digging by The Wall Street Journal uncovered Trump’s alleged involvement in “every step” of the process of setting up the hush money deals—even though the payment to McDougal came via The National Enquirer and the $130,000 payoff to Daniels was made by Trump’s then-lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen.
When Cohen pleaded guilty in August to felony campaign finance violations in relation to the two payoffs, he said in court that the payments were designed to “influence the outcome of the [2016 presidential] election.”
"It may be an impeachable offense if it goes to the question of the President procuring his office through corrupt means," said Nadler, speaking Sunday to CNN. "And that could be impeachable."
Nadler cautioned that even if his committee finds that Trump committed an impeachable offense by authorizing the payoffs to the two women, that “does not mean necessarily there ought to be an impeachment. [It] depends on whether the situation is serious enough that it makes sense to do an impeachment to defend the ... system of government and the system of democracy."
While commentators have largely scoffed at the notion that the Stormy Daniels case could “bring down” Trump, Nadler is now saying that charges arising directly from Daniels' allegations against Trump could, at least in theory, lead to impeachment proceedings that may end up removing Trump from office.
Nadler’s Judiciary Committee will not be alone in carrying out an investigation into the Daniels and McDougal payoffs, which would be felonies if they are found, as in Cohen’s case, to have been made with the intent of rigging the 2016 election, by covering up potentially derogatory information about one of the major candidates. The House Oversight Committee, which in the next congressional session will be chaired by Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings, also plans to make investigating the hush money deals a priority, NBC News reported.
Trump has denied knowing about or being involved in the hush money payment deals.
Photo By Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons
