President closer to impeachment after Cohen's guilty plea: Ex-Trump aide

President closer to impeachment after Cohen's guilty plea: Ex-Trump aide

Washington, Aug 23 (IANS) A former adviser to Donald Trump's campaign has issued a warning that the US President could be just months away from facing impeachment because of his former personal attorney Michael Cohen's guilty plea.

"This is all they (Democrats) need for impeachment," Michael Caputo said during a CNN interview on Wednesday night. Caputo was a communications adviser during Trump's 2016 run for the presidency.

"If the Democrats take over the House during the midterm elections, this indication coming out of the Southern District of New York, this charge, is enough for them to run an impeachment against the President, even in the first quarter."

Cohen pleaded guilty to eight felony counts on Tuesday that included tax fraud, false statements to a bank and campaign finance violations tied to his work for Trump, including payments Cohen made or helped orchestrate that were designed to silence women who claimed earlier affairs with the then-candidate.

Cohen said the payments were made at Trump's direction.

Asked if Trump was closer to impeachment than he was 48 hours ago, before Cohen pleaded guilty, Caputo said: "I believe so," adding that the recent indictments against Republican Repsresentative Chris Collins of New York and Duncan Hunter of California show that "we've got real problems in the House of Representatives".

Caputo told CNN that he also believes the mid-term elections in November will come down to a choice of whether voters support or oppose impeachment.

"I really believe that the vote that voters make on November 6 is going to boil down to if they vote for a Republican member of the House of Representatives, they're going to vote against impeachment, and if they vote for a Democratic member of the House of Representatives or a challenger, they're voting for impeachment," he said.

"This is all about impeachment. It always has been."

--IANS

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