‘Doesn’t involve me’: Trump distances himself from court cases
Post-Gazette news services
If President Donald Trump felt the walls closing in on him Tuesday, he didn’t show it.
His longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, had just implicated him in a criminal conspiracy to pay hush money to women who alleged affairs with Mr. Trump, while his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was convicted by a jury on tax- and bank-fraud charges — the first trial victory for special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation of Trump associates and Russia.
Addressing reporters ahead of a campaign rally in West Virginia, Mr. Trump sought to distance himself from the Manafort case and ignored the perilous Cohen guilty pleas altogether.
“I must tell you that Paul Manafort’s a good man,” Mr. Trump said. “Doesn’t involve me, but I still feel, you know, it’s a very sad thing that happened. This has nothing to do with Russian collusion. ... This is a witch hunt that ends in disgrace.”
The rapid developments in federal court on Tuesday amounted to a political problem for Mr. Trump, who is already besieged by Mr. Mueller’s wide-ranging federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign and his possible obstruction of justice. The ramifications could extend to this fall’s midterms and beyond, whether as a cudgel for Democrats who oppose him or as a rallying cry for Republicans eager to stave off congressional investigations.
Mr. Trump has raged to aides for several weeks that he is often mentioned in connection with the Manafort case and that he shouldn’t be. Several advisers to Mr. Trump had already begun discussing how to use a notguilty verdict regarding Mr. Manafort against the Mueller probe. Now, the challenge will be trying to discredit Mr. Cohen,two advisers said.
Former Trump political strategist Stephen Bannon argued that the two cases will helpgalvanize GOP support.
“This clarifies that you have to show up on Election Day, you have to double down on intensity because it reinforces that Trump is at war,” Mr. Bannon said.
David Axelrod, a Democratic strategist and longtime adviser to ex-President Barack Obama, said Tuesday “was a catastrophic day. In the case of Mr. Cohen, he stood up in a courtroom and implicated the president in a crime. It is stunning.”
Steve Schmidt, a veteran political strategist who recently left the Republican Party because of his opposition to Mr. Trump, said it could prove to be the most consequential day of Mr. Trump’s presidency.
“What it shows is a presidency in crisis, but also the absolute moral and character rot that meanders through American politics in this hour of our nation’s life,” Mr. Schmidt said. “The bill is coming due for Trump with regard to his many years of lawlessnessand arrogance.”
On Mr. Cohen’s plea implicating Mr. Trump in two counts of campaign finance law violations, the White House deferred comment to the president’s outside counsel, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who said in a statement: “There is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the President in the government’s charges against Mr. Cohen. It is clear that, as the prosecutor noted, Mr. Cohen’s actions reflect a pattern of lies and dishonesty over a significant period of time.”
Sam Nunberg, a former political adviser to Mr. Trump who worked closely with Mr. Cohen, said of Tuesday’s developments: “For any other president, this would be catastrophic. But I don’t think Mueller has gotten any closer to removing Trumpfrom office today.”
Still, Mr. Trump, who boasts of his track record hiring “the best people,” must grapple with the reality that a growing number of advisers are finding themselves on the wrongside of the law.
Mr. Manafort — a longtime Trump associate who was his campaign chairman, overseeing the Republican National Convention, the launch of his general election campaign and his selection of Vice President Mike Pence — was convicted of bank and taxfraud charges.
Mr. Cohen, who for more than a decade was Mr. Trump’spersonal lawyer and fixer, pleaded guilty to eight violationsof banking, tax and campaignfinance laws.