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Trump concerned about being impeached, sees it as a 'real possibility,' source says

CNN logo CNN 12/11/2018 By Jim Acosta, CNN
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President Donald Trump has expressed concern that he could be impeached when Democrats take over the House, a source close to the President told CNN Monday. The source said Trump sees impeachment as a "real possibility."

But Trump isn't certain it will happen, the source added.

A separate source close to the White House told CNN that aides inside the West Wing believe "the only issue that may stick" in the impeachment process is the campaign finance violations tied to former Trump attorney Michael Cohen's payouts to Trump's alleged mistresses.

Impeachment talk has heated up in recent days following a blockbuster filing from prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. In that filing, prosecutors directly alleged for the first time that Cohen was being directed by Trump when he broke the law during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Democrats are suggesting Trump committed an impeachable offense and could be sent to prison when his term in the White House is over. The incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler, said Sunday the allegations, if proven, would constitute "impeachable offenses." Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said Monday Trump could be indicted after he leaves office.

Cohen first made the allegation in court in September that he was directed by Trump to make the payments to the two women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Prosecutors endorsed the allegation in a sentencing document for Cohen on Friday, in which they said Cohen should receive a "substantial sentence" for the crimes he committed, which included campaign finance violations for the payments to the two women, tax fraud and lying to Congress.

US President Donald Trump walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, December 7, 2018, following a day trip to Kansas City, Missouri. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) © SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images US President Donald Trump walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, December 7, 2018, following a day trip to Kansas City, Missouri. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) White House officials, at the moment, still don't believe special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion will result in impeachment. Officials are also comforted by their belief that the campaign finance issue is not seen as enough to galvanize bipartisan support for impeachment.

Another separate source said Trump remains confident at this point that, while he could be impeached in the House, he doesn't believe he would be convicted in the Senate as the GOP remains in control there.

The campaign finance issue tied to the alleged mistresses is not viewed as having the firepower to trigger a bipartisan vote for conviction and removal in the Senate, the source said.

These beliefs about the politics at play in impeachment proceedings are based on what White House officials believe Mueller has on Trump right now. It's still unclear exactly where else the special counsel's probe could go.

CNN's Manu Raju, Jeremy Herb, Ted Barrett, Pamela Brown, Gloria Borger and Evan Perez contributed to this report.

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