There Will be Impeachment

Given that the Democrats were going to take back the House anyway prior to Trump consigliere Michael Cohen pleading guilty to, among other things, violating federal campaign finance law by paying hush money to two of Trump's former paramours; and given that there was going to be a leadership battle in the House Democratic caucus; now it is inevitable that there will be impeachment. A zombie-like Nancy Pelosi, on record of being reticent about pursuing impeachment, will have to pledge allegiance to the cause if she is to have any hope of becoming Speaker again.

What makes it interesting is that if articles of impeachment manage to clear the House, the Republicans in the Senate will be placed on a very hot seat -- all in the run up to a presidential election. It is going to be hard to apply the brakes. It could be a runaway train.

From "Legal noose tightens around Trump White House" by Patrick Martin:

The logic of the Cohen case was best summed up by one of his own lawyers, Lanny J Davis, a veteran of the Clinton White House during its defense against impeachment. If what Cohen did in relation to the payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal was a crime, Davis argued, and he did it on behalf of and for the benefit of candidate Donald Trump, then Trump is also guilty of a crime. Last month Davis released an audio recording Cohen had made of Trump admitting to knowing of the payment made to silence McDougal.

From "A One-Two Punch Puts Trump Back on His Heels" by Mark Landler, Michael Shear and Maggie Haberman:

Still, Mr. Cohen was blunt about the president’s culpability as he stood in court and admitted his guilt: “In coordination with, and at the direction of, a candidate for federal office,” Mr. Cohen said he conspired with a media company to keep secret Mr. Trump’s affair with Stephanie Clifford, a pornographic film actress known as Stormy Daniels.

“Mr. Cohen, when you took all of these acts that you’ve described, did you know that what you were doing was wrong and illegal?” the judge asked. Mr. Cohen answered, “Yes, your honor.”

The startling charge directed at Mr. Trump carried echoes of President Richard M. Nixon, who was named an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the special prosecutor’s investigation of Watergate.

And it raised the prospect that Mr. Trump’s presidency could be at risk by impeachment in Congress even if the sprawling Russia investigation never definitively concludes that there was collusion or obstruction of justice.

[snip]

“I think impeachment is now squarely going to define the midterms,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist who has been critical of Mr. Trump. “It’s inescapable now that Democrats can legitimately raise that issue.”

He added, “There’s a lot of Republican members of Congress sitting in tough districts that are going to have to really think hard about how they’re going to finesse this in the days ahead.”

What makes it harder for Republicans, he said, is that this did not emerge from the Mueller inquiry. “This isn’t something from the deep state,” he said. “This is a classic B-team type of bumbling screw-up of covering up mistresses.”

And, he added, “It’ll be very hard to distance the president. You would assume that there’s legitimate evidence that the president was aware that those invoices were not for services rendered. You already have the one tape.”