6 big questions after the Cohen and Manafort convictions

Even though it would likely be politically very hard to defend, would Trump do it for Manafort?

Congressional Republicans Wednesday were largely silent on the impeachment issue, and saying they wouldn’t comment further until Special Counsel Robert Mueller wraps up his investigation.

“My first question when I heard about it was, ‘Did they come out of the campaign?’ because that could be a little dicey”, he said of the payments – believed to have been made to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. But he changed his story as prosecutors closed in.

Cohen’s lawyer has said his client has knowledge of whether Mr Trump knew about the computer hacking which undermined his Democratic presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Trump has since acknowledged he reimbursed Cohen for one of those women’s payments, and he’s on tape appearing to talk about the other.

Shortly after Cohen’s guilty pleas, Daniels and her lawyer Michael Avenatti said they were “vindicated”. “And they didn’t come out of the campaign, and that’s big”. Cohen could face between four and five years in prison, fines of up to $1 million and back taxes estimated at $1.4 million.

Manafort was found guilty in the first criminal trial arising from the Mueller investigation, though none of the charges against him related to any collusion with Russian Federation.

While mention of Russian Federation and connections with the Trump election campaign were essentially barred from court proceedings on Tuesday, that will not be the case in the coming trial.

Trump also said the stock market would crash if he were impeached and attacked Cohen for “flipping” on him.

“Where is the collusion?” he asked. Yet she offered no explanation for Trump’s shifting accounts.

The White House’s position tracked what Mr Trump had maintained throughout the course of the day.

Allies of the president stressed an untested legal theory that a sitting president can not be indicted – only impeached.

The legal developments also increase pressure on Trump personally. While political pundits weighed in on whether Democrats would have the nerve and the heft to put Trump through impeachment proceedings in a partisan atmosphere, legal and constitutional scholars argued about the bar for impeachment, whether a sitting US President can be criminally indicted (and is therefore above the law), and whether he can be prosecuted after he demits office. They are citing a 2000 opinion of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which provides legal advice and guidance to executive branch agencies.

“I will stay uninvolved and maybe that’s the best thing to do”, he said in the Fox interview.

The White House denied the president had lied, with Sanders calling the assertion “ridiculous”.

Investors are considering whether the twin setback will hurt the Republican Party’s election prospects and widen a criminal probe that has overshadowed Mr Trump’s presidency.

He brought along guest French businessman Kacy Grine, who advises the richest man in Saudi Arabia, the New York Times reported in March.

Shortly after the near simultaneous convictions of Michael Cohen and Paul Manafo, Mr Trump flew to West Virginia for a rally with some of his strongest supporters.