Will Democrats Get Their Wish?

Rep. Adam Schiff: Trump Faces The 'Real Prospect Of Jail Time'

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

ByEMILY ZANOTTI

@EMZANOTTI

December 9, 2018

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who is set to take over the House Intelligence Committee when Democrats reclaim the House of Representatives in January, told Face the Nation Sunday morning that he believes President Donald Trump faces the "prospect" of "real jail time" after prosecutors accused the president of directing his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to issue payments to two of the president's alleged former mistresses.

""There’s a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the Justice Department may indict him," Schiff said. "That he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time."

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.@AdamSchiff on the Russia Investigation: My takeaway is there's a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office the justice department may indict him. That he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time.

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Although the allegations released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York on Friday are serious, it's not clear that they carry jail time — or much of a punishment at all. The document, which never mentions the president by name (but appears to refer to Trump as "Individual-1"), says that Cohen "acted in coordination with and at the direction of" Trump, who wanted two alleged former flings, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, paid to keep quiet about their affairs with Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The claims, if true, appear to be campaign finance violations.

The claims, which have not yet escalated into official charges, are also separate from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether the Trump campaign illegally coordinated with Russian officials to impact the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. So far, it does not appear there is any evidence connecting the president to any overt coordination effort.