A lawyer representing a key witness in the investigation into Donald Trump over hush money payments has drawn comparisons between the case and the scandal that embroiled Bill Clinton, as it became clear that there would be no indictment in the Trump investigation until next week at the earliest.
Lanny Davis, who represents Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer, hypothesized about what might have happened if Clinton had handled his affair with Monica Lewinsky differently.
Clinton was impeached in his second term after lying about his relationship with Lewinsky while he was president. Davis, who served as a special adviser to Clinton, speculated about how the Democrat might have been perceived if a representative had paid money to Lewinsky.
Cohen, who was Trump's lawyer and fixer for more than a decade before he turned on his former boss, paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels to prevent her from going public with allegations that she and Trump slept together a decade before he won the White House.
I won't mention the name of the former president I worked for, Davis told Politico in an interview.
How can you imagine if he had written personal checks as part of the controversy?
How can I imagine if I had personal checks in a checking account of a sitting president that reimburses a hush money scheme, and then use a legal argument to say why he should get off, because New York state law doesn't apply to federal law? Cohen, who was sentenced in prison for three years for tax evasion and campaign finance violations related to the Daniels payment, has been a key witness in the investigation into Trump.
The lawyer paid Daniels through a shell company and was reimbursed through Trump, whose company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses. The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is leading the investigation into possible wrongdoing by Trump.
Davis, a lawyer and long-time political operative, claimed in the Politico interview that he himself had triggered the investigation by speaking to Cyrus Vance, Bragg's predecessor.
Cyrus Vance Sr was secretary of state under Jimmy Carter. I'm showing my age now, I was in my 20 s when President Carter was elected, Davis told Politico.
I got to know Mr Vance. So his son, who was the DA of Manhattan, called me after Michael was sent to prison. Davis said he believed that the evidence of financial fraud was on the record in the congressional hearings and that Vance's office should interview Michael She came to Otisville the prison where Cohen served some of his sentence. Davis said he had two and then three separate visits at the beginning.
Davis's interview came as the investigation into Trump took place in New York. Reports had suggested Trump would be indicted this week, but Trump himself claimed last weekend that he would be arrested on Tuesday, but the grand jury is not due to meet until Monday.
Trump, who is currently the subject of multiple legal inquiries, warned on Friday of potential death and destruction should he be charged in the case.
In a rambling, idiosyncratically punctuated message posted on Truth Social, a niche rightwing social network he owns, Trump wrote at 1 am:
What kind of person can charge a former president of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate by far? If a false charge was made against the Republican Party nomination, which is known by all that NO crime has been committed, then known that potential death destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our country? Why would someone do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath who hates the USA!