Good evening. Im Chris Matthews in washington. Federal prosecutors in new york have accused the president of criminal violation of the federal Campaign Laws. They say trump directed thats the word Michael Cohen to cover up a Campaign Contribution in the form of payments with two women with whom he had sexual relations. This comes from the Southern District of new york, not Robert Mueller, not the socalled 17 democrats the president says are working against him, not the deep state, not from a witch hunt. Its from one of the two Sentencing Memos filed in the case of trumps former lawyer, Michael Cohen, today, which are shedding new light on the president s potential legal exposure. As trumps longtime fixer, cohen pleaded guilty in august to Campaign Finance violations and making hush payments to two women on trumps behalf. And now, tonights Sentencing Memo makes clear that with respect to both payments, cohen acted in coordination with and at the direction of individual
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of these decisions, or a lot of things that michael cohen was doing, and prosecutors are basically laying out that michael cohen brazenly violated the laws and donald trump directed him to do so. what about impeachment here? when you look at this, is this enough to bring charges? is this enough for hearings? is this enough for committee hearings by the house judiciary committee on this president s behavior? so, i m on the judiciary committee, and my view is that impeachment, like the power to declare war, is one of congress gravest responsibilities. it should never be our first option. i think we need to wait for the special counsel investigation to conclude. these were court filings that were done for sentencing purposes. we don t know how much special counsel mueller knows about what s going on with russia and these other related activities, specifically at donald trump. we should wait for the investigation to conclude and make a decision then. when do you think that would com