Trump-Mueller investigation: President faces difficult chief of staff choice as he is warned of impeachment and jail time over escalating Russia probe

New court filings detail Trump campaign members' 'crimes and lies' with potentially damaging impact on president

Former FBI Director James Comey tells MSNBC Trump is not yet an unindicted co-conspirator to charges but 'is certainly close'

Donald Trump has been warned he faces the "very real prospect" of jail time as the fallout from the bombshell publication of court filings intensifies.

Follow today's live blog as Trump scrambles to find new chief of staff and former lawyer Cohen faces sentencing

As the probe into Mr Trump's conduct both before and during office escalates, House Democrats are openly raising the prospect of impeachment or prison time for the US president if it is proved he directed illegal hush-money payments to women.

Jerry Nadler, the incoming chairman of the house judiciary committee, described the details in prosecutors' filings in the case of Mr Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as evidence Mr Trump was "at the centre of a massive fraud".

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"They would be impeachable offences," Mr Nadler said.

"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," said Adam Schiff, the incoming chairman of the House intelligence committee.

"The bigger pardon question may come down the road as the next president has to determine whether to pardon Donald Trump."

In the filings, prosecutors in New York for the first time link Mr Trump to a federal crime of illegal payments to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign.

When asked what usually happened after such a filing, James Comey, the sacked former FBI director, told MSNBC: “That person would be in serious jeopardy of being charged.”

Special counsel Robert Mueller's office also laid out previously undisclosed contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermediaries and suggested the Kremlin aimed early on to influence Mr Trump and his Republican campaign by playing to both his political and personal business interests.

Mr Trump has denied wrongdoing and has compared the investigations to a "witch hunt."

Mr Nadler said it was too early to say whether Congress would pursue impeachment proceedings based on the illegal payments alone because lawmakers would need to weigh the gravity of the offence to justify "overturning" the 2016 election.

Mr Nadler and other lawmakers said on Sunday that they would await additional details from Mr Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with the Trump campaign to determine the extent of Mr Trump's misconduct.

Regarding the illegal payments, "whether they are important enough to justify an impeachment is a different question, but certainly they'd be impeachable offences because even though they were committed before the president became president, they were committed in the service of fraudulently obtaining the office," Mr Nadler said.

Mr Mueller has not said when he will complete a report of any findings, and it isn't clear that any such report would be made available to Congress. That would be up to the attorney general. Mr Trump on Friday said he would nominate former attorney general William Barr to the post to succeed Jeff Sessions.

Mr Nadler indicated that Democrats, who will control the House in January, will step up their own investigations. He said Congress, the Justice Department and the special counsel needed to dig deeper into the allegations, which included questions about whether Mr Trump lied about his business arrangements with Russians and about possible obstruction of justice.

"The new Congress will not try to shield the president," he said. "We will try to get to the bottom of this, in order to serve the American people and to stop this massive conspiracy — this massive fraud on the American people."

Mr Schiff also stressed a need to wait "until we see the full picture." He has previously indicated his panel would seek to look into the Trump family's business ties with Russia.

"I think we also need to see this as a part of a broader pattern of potential misconduct by the president, and it's that broad pattern, I think, that will lead us to a conclusion about whether it rises to the level to warrant removal from office," Mr Schiff said.

In the legal filings, the Justice Department stopped short of accusing Mr Trump of directly committing a crime. But it said Mr Trump told Mr Cohen to make illegal payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom claimed to have had affairs with Mr Trump more than a decade ago.

In separate filings, Mr Mueller's team detail how Mr Cohen spoke to a Russian who "claimed to be a 'trusted person' in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign 'political synergy' and 'synergy on a government level."'

Mr Cohen said he never followed up on that meeting. Mr Mueller's team also said former campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to them about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials, including in 2018.

Republican senator Marco Rubio called the latest filings "relevant" in judging Mr Trump's fitness for office but said lawmakers need more information to render judgment. He also warned the White House about considering a pardon for Mr Manafort, saying such a step could trigger congressional debate about limiting a president's pardon powers.

Such a move would be "a terrible mistake," Mr Rubio said. "Pardons should be used judiciously. They're used for cases with extraordinary circumstances."

Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate intelligence committee, cautioned against a rush to impeachment, which he said citizens could interpret as "political revenge and a coup against the president",

"The best way to solve a problem like this, to me, is elections," Mr King said. "I'm a conservative when it comes to impeachment. I think it's a last resort and only when the evidence is clear of a really substantial legal violation. We may get there, but we're not there now."

Democratic senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut urged Mr Mueller to "show his cards soon" so that Congress can make a determination early next year on whether to act on impeachment.

"Let's be clear: We have reached a new level in the investigation," Mr Murphy said. "It's important for Congress to get all of the underlying facts and data and evidence that the special counsel has."

Mr Nadler spoke on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Mr Rubio was on CNN and ABC's This Week, and Mr Schiff appeared on CBS' Face the Nation. Mr Murphy spoke on ABC, and Mr King was on NBC's Meet the Press.

Additional reporting by AP

Key Points

• Trump addresses Cohen filing, claims any wrongdoing is 'civil' rather than criminal 
• Former CIA director says it is now 'impossible' for Trump to escape justice
• Democrats say president is in impeachable territory after latest developments
• At least 14 Trump campaign members spoke with Russians during the election

[10 December 2018 22:19 · Chris Stevenson]

With Mr Trump likely to name his third chief of staff in less than 24 months in charge, he will break a record for the modern-day White House. 

And obviously, as there often is, there is a previous tweet from Mr Trump mocking his predecessor about his turnover. This one from 2012.

 

[10 December 2018 22:27 · Chris Stevenson]

As for tomorrow, there is at least one court hearing President Trump should be paying attention to tomorrow.

A judge has set a court date for this week for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort after prosecutors with the special counsel's office detailed lies they say he told them. Manafort has denied being untruthful

The scheduling conference will take place on Tuesday afternoon before US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.

Manafort is not expected to attend.

[10 December 2018 22:38 · Chris Stevenson]

As for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, former US attorney Andy McCarthy, has told Fox News that Mr Mueller is "on his own timetable" and is likely not done yet.

 

[10 December 2018 22:49 · Chris Stevenson]

Meanwhile, Mr Trump also faces issues within his own White House:

[10 December 2018 23:02 · Chris Stevenson]

As we reported earlier, alleged Russian spy Maria Butina is set to change her plea - having originally pleaded not guilty to infiltrating Republican organisations in order to advance Russian interests.

It is believed that Ms Butina will now plead guilty to a conspiracy charge and will cooperate with federal prosecutors. It was not Mr Mueller's team that brought this case.

[10 December 2018 23:14 · Chris Stevenson]

House Majority leader Kevin McCarthy has said that it would be a mistake for Democrats to launch investigations into Mr Trump when they take control of the chamber in January.

"It looks like what they’re going to focus on is more investigations," Mr McCarthy said on Fox News. "I think America is too great a nation to have such a small agenda.

"I think there’s other problems out there that we really should be focused upon," he continued. "And my belief is, let’s see where we can work together. Let’s move America forward."

[10 December 2018 23:29 · Chris Stevenson]

Another possible Trump chief of staff to downplay his interest is New York Yankees President Randy Levine. There were a number of reports linking him to the job on Monday.

"I have spoken to nobody about the chief of staff job," Levine said in a statement to Fox News. "I have great respect for the President but am very happy being president of the Yankees."

[10 December 2018 23:48 · Chris Stevenson]

It seems like Mark Meadows, a Republican representative from North Carolina  is pushing hard to be Mr Trump's new chief of staff.

As well as his own statement saying the job would be an "honour" it appears Mr Meadow's allies have been singing his praises too.

During an interview on Fox News, Trump’s favorite network, Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, made an unsolicited pitch for Mr Meadows during a discussion on Monday about former FBI Director James Comey’s interview with two House committees last week.

“It’s one of the reasons I think President Trump needs to pick Mark Meadows to be his chief of staff, because Mark fully understands the facts and the timeline and will make sure the White House is prepared to go toe-to-toe with a far more politically engaged James Comey,” Mr Gaetz said.

[11 December 2018 00:04 · Chris Stevenson]

One of the biggest attacks on Mr Trump during Monday was from former CIA director John Brennan, how said it would be "impossible" for the president to "escape American justice" over the Mueller probe.

 

[11 December 2018 00:23 · Chris Stevenson]

So of those that are currently in the frame to become Mr Trump's new chief of staff, these appear to be the frontrunners.

- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

- Acting AG Matt Whitaker

- GOP Rep. Mark Meadows

- Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin

- White House budget director Mick Mulvaney

- US trade representative Robert Lighthizer

Of those, both Mr Mnuchin and Mr Mulvaney have let it be known via leaks to the media that would prefer to stay where they are rather than move closer into Mr Trump's orbit.

There is a also not a single woman on that list.