Trump Worried About Himself For ‘First Time In His Life’ — Impeachment Likely, Says Watergate Journalist

Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein, one of the two reporters with Bob Woodward at the Washington Post who was instrumental in bringing down Richard Nixon, says Donald Trump is “concerned” for the “first time in his life” and is likely to face impeachment proceedings, according to Newsweek.

Appearing on CNN‘s Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter, Bernstein was speaking in reference to the latest revelations offered by Robert Mueller and other federal prosecutors. Friday filings by them showed that Cohen had acted on the direction of Trump to pay off two women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, before the 2016 presidential elections in an attempt to ward off any negative publicity. Earlier, Cohen had not confessed that Trump had directed his actions, considered a felony because he violated campaign finance laws, but his admission now puts the president in deep peril. Carl Bernstein agreed with several legal experts who concluded that this was the first time we actually know about Trump directing a felony crime.

Bernstein expects Congress to begin impeachment hearings for Trump’s “conduct” sooner rather than later.

“It certainly looks like they are the kind of offenses that would call for impeachment hearings into the conduct of the president of the United States. There’s something much more important than just impeachment going on, and that is the fact that Donald Trump for the first time in his life is cornered.”

.@carlbernstein: “The most important lies told by Trump, told by his son, told by his campaign ads, told by Flynn, told by Manafort, you can go on and on, they’re all about Russia. Why is this if there’s no collusion, if there’s nothing there, if there’s nothing to investigate?" pic.twitter.com/35oXAzYv8t

— Reliable Sources (@ReliableSources) December 9, 2018

He said that unlike Trump’s business interests, where he can wriggle out of troublesome situations, this is not something the president can get himself out of.

“He always could buy his way out, cheat his way out,” Bernstein said about instances where Trump was confronted with difficult choices as a businessman. “He is boxed in by Mueller, and the people around him know that he is.”

Although Mueller has so far not proved that Trump’s team directly colluded with Russia in order to influence the 2016 elections, he has indicted 33 people and three companies already, including some of Trump’s closest associates. Bernstein expects Mueller to reveal more explosive details in the weeks to come and considers it highly likely that other members of the Trump family will soon be indicted.

“It’s clear that Mueller is now connecting the dots between a massive obstruction intended to hide the truth about the Trump campaign, Trump, his business organization, and his family from the investigators,” Bernstein said, before adding that all the people indicted by Mueller have some connection with Russia.

The three major Trump associates indicted by Mueller — Manafort, Cohen, Flynn — had deep contacts with Russia. Bernstein said that when all the evidence points in one direction, it is not difficult to surmise where Mueller is headed.

“The most important lies told by Trump, told by his son, told by his campaign ads, told by Flynn, told by Manafort, you can go on and on, they’re all about Russia,” Bernstein said. “Why is this if there’s no collusion, if there’s nothing there, if there’s nothing to investigate?”