Former Republican DOJ official reacts to National Enquirer bombshell: If you’re Trump you’re worried – very worried
Former Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney John Yoo (Photo: Screen capture)
August 23, 2018
Former Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney John Yoo explained to Fox News why President Donald Trump is probably getting worried.
In a Thursday interview, Yoo told host Harris Faulkner "if you are President Trump, you are getting very worried." While Yoo doesn't believe Trump is under threat of prosecution but he does think the president should fear impeachment.
To be indicted would mean Trump's own Justice Department bucking a tradition of not indicting a sitting president. While it's not written into any laws, the department has shied away from it, counting on Congress to take the lead.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from anything involving special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, which would mean his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, would have to approve the shift from tradition. Sessions could also step in and ignore the recusal and stop the indictment. Trump has spent the last year complaining about Sessions and Rosenstein for not protecting him.
If the southern district of New York sought an indictment, it would be on the campaign finance charges former "fixer" Michael Cohen said he did for the president. That wouldn't fall under Sessions' recusal.
"His main worry, I think, is whether this will lead to some kind of impeachment charge because under impeachment, under the high crimes and misdemeanor standard, which is the House, and ultimately the Senate, to decide the meaning of, one could say this is an impeachable offense if the president, in some way, had conspired with people to evade limits on campaign contributions or concealed the nature of campaign spending in order to get himself elected," Yoo explained.
He went on to say that several things would need to happen long before the House and Senate would act to impeach on either investigation.
Watch the full interview below: