Incoming House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday that "there's a very real prospect" the Justice Department may indict President Trump the day he leaves office — calling him "the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time" — based on the sentencing memo for Michael Cohen submitted by federal prosecutors in New York.
The big picture: Prosecutors allege that Cohen paid off two women "in coordination with and at the direction of" of then-candidate Trump with the goal of preventing them from influencing the 2016 election. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has maintained that a sitting president cannot be indicted, but Schiff argued that if evidence supports the claim that Trump directed Cohen to commit felonies, he could face criminal exposure once he leaves office.
