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Jerrold Nadler: Democrats to request documents from 60 people in Trump’s orbit

Michael Cohen named names.

CREDIT: Alex Wong/Getty Images
CREDIT: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, said the committee on Monday will seek documents from 60 individuals as part of an expanding congressional probe into possible criminal conduct by President Donald Trump.

“Tomorrow we will be issuing document requests to over 60 different people and individuals,” Nadler told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, “from the White House to the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, Jr., Allen Weisselberg — to begin investigations to present the case to the American people about obstruction of justice, corruption, and abuse of power.”

Stephanopoulos asked if that would include former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and former White House Counsel Don McGahn. “I would imagine,” Nadler said. “I don’t have the list in front of me.” He confirmed that the full list will be made public on Monday.

Nadler said it appears very clear Trump has obstructed justice in numerous ways. But these investigations, he insisted, must come before any talk of impeachment. “We have to do the investigations and get all of this,” he said. “We do not now have the evidence all sorted out and everything to do an impeachment.”

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“Before you impeach somebody, you have to persuade the American public that it ought to happen. You have to persuade enough of the opposition party voters and Trump voters that you’re not just trying to steal or reverse the results of the last election.”

Nadler’s announcement comes four days after Michael Cohen, the president’s former personal attorney, testified at length about Trump’s involvement in violating campaign finance laws by authorizing hush money payments to women he’d had affairs with.

At several points during Wednesday’s hearing, Cohen named specific individuals who had related information, including Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization.

The inclusion of Weisselberg on Nadler’s list confirms what Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said Thursday about plans to investigate the allegations Cohen described.

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“All you have to do is follow the transcript. If there were names that were mentioned or records that were mentioned during the hearing, we’re going to take a look at all of that,” he said. “We’ll go through, we’ll figure out who we want to talk to and we’ll bring them in.”

It appears they wasted no time in doing just that.

Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has already announced that the House Intelligence Committee will hold an open hearing on March 14 to question Felix Sater, the Russian real estate developer who previously worked with Trump on a Trump Tower Moscow project.

Cohen will also return to Congress for further testimony behind closed doors next week.