President Trump faces impeachment and imprisonment?

US Democratic lawmakers said on December 9 that President Donald Trump could face impeachment and a prison sentence if financial transactions disclosed by his former lawyer are proven to violate campaign finance laws.

New revelations cause controversy

Court filings released on December 7 in a lawsuit related to the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller have pointed to potential problems for President Trump, including whether or not Trump asked his former lawyer Michael Cohen to make six-figure payments to actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to cover up their relationships.

Speaking to CNN, Democratic Congressman Jerrold Nadler said that if the transactions were proven to violate campaign finance laws, it would be grounds for impeachment. According to US law, campaign contributions must be disclosed. In each election, each individual can donate a maximum of $2,700 to a candidate.

Federal prosecutors had previously sought prison time for the president's former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen in connection with the case, as well as charges of tax fraud and lying to Congress about negotiations involving a Trump tower project in Moscow.

The White House has yet to comment on the reports. But on December 7, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that Cohen had lied repeatedly and that the court records released were irrelevant. Reuters reported that court records related to Cohen and Paul Manafort, former campaign manager for US President Donald Trump, also revealed new information about contacts between Trump associates and Russians.

Paul Manafort was convicted in August 2018 of corruption and tax evasion. According to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Paul Manafort lied to investigators about his contacts with a Russian linked to Russian intelligence. Mueller's office said last week that prosecutors withdrew Manafort's plea agreement.

“I believe the indictments and court records show that President Trump is at the center of one or more major corruptions against the American people,” said Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler.

Is there a prison sentence?

The investigation into Russian interference in the US election, which has been ongoing since March 2017, has cast a shadow over the first half of Mr. Trump’s presidency. Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed impatience with the investigation, claiming that it is politically motivated.

Responding to the new revelations, President Trump stressed that court records did not prove any connection between his campaign team and Russia, and called for an end to the investigation. “It’s time to end the witch hunt!”, Mr. Trump wrote on his personal Twitter page on December 8. However, observers believe that the end of Mueller’s investigation could be the beginning of bigger troubles for President Trump. Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Representative Adam Schiff, who will head the House Intelligence Committee in 2019, said: “There is a possibility that President Trump will one day leave office and the Justice Department may impeach him. Then he will be the first president to face the risk of going to jail.”

Legal experts are divided over whether a sitting president can be impeached and whether campaign finance violations are enough to warrant impeachment. Republican Senator Rand Paul warned against “over-criminalizing” campaign finance violations. “Failures in financial disclosure should be punished with fines, not prison terms,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Senator Marco Rubio said he was waiting for the results of the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the US election and related investigations. However, he warned that "no one is above the law." According to the Senator, it would be a "grave mistake" if President Trump pardoned Manafort, and emphasized that this could spark a debate about whether the President's pardon power should be amended. Previously, President Trump did not rule out the possibility of considering a pardon for Mr. Manafort.

Congressman Adam Schiff said that Mr. Trump should seek a pardon for himself from the next President of the United States. Democrats in the House of Representatives have pledged to conduct a series of investigations into Mr. Trump's activities./.