Sen. Patrick Leahy Credit: File: Paul Heintz
A day after President Donald Trump’s former lawyer implicated his estranged boss in federal court, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said for the first time that it appeared likely that the president had broken the law.

Vermont’s senior senator made the assertion in a brief interview with Seven Days Wednesday afternoon, immediately after addressing the president’s mounting legal problems on the floor of the U.S. Senate. “The clouds of criminal conduct surrounding those close to the president are darkening,” he said in those remarks.

Leahy was referring to two major developments that came a day earlier: former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s conviction on eight counts of tax and bank fraud, and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s guilty pleas on eight counts of tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations. During Cohen’s appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, he said he’d made illegal payments to two women “in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” referring to Trump.

Alluding to that allegation, which Trump has denied, Leahy said in his floor remarks, “The president of the United States was effectively identified by his longtime lawyer and confidant as an unindicted co-conspirator in their efforts to commit criminal campaign finance violations.”

Asked by Seven Days whether that meant Trump had broken the law, Leahy said in the interview, “It appears he has.” The senator added, “We’ll let that determination be made by Mr. Mueller,” referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. “If it happened the way [Cohen said it] did, of course that’s breaking the law,” Leahy continued. “To use money illegally in a campaign — of course that breaks the law.”

Leahy, the most senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, declined to say whether Trump should be impeached.

“I think that I’d let the Mueller investigation and the rest of this play out,” he said, noting that impeachment proceedings must begin in the U.S. House — and that its Republican majority was unlikely to take action. “The most important thing we can do is let the special counsel finish the investigation.”

In his floor remarks, Leahy urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to take up bipartisan legislation that would protect Mueller’s office, and he called on the Judiciary Committee to investigate potential wrongdoing by the president and his associates.

“The Russia investigation is the most pressing national security investigation of our time,” Leahy said. “History will judge us harshly if we collectively shrug our shoulders and disregard our constitutional responsibility to oversee the executive branch in this moment.”

Neither of Leahy’s colleagues in Vermont’s congressional delegation could be reached on Wednesday. A spokesperson for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) declined an interview request, and a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said he was on vacation.

In a written statement, Sanders called Tuesday’s convictions and pleas “a serious development.”

“The American people deserve to know the truth about the 2016 election,” Sanders continued. “Congress must make certain that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is allowed to go forward unimpeded. Any attempt by the president to interfere or pardon Cohen or Manafort would be a very serious offense.”

In his own written statement, Welch called the developments “important victories for the rule of law in America.” Cohen’s admission, he said, “directly implicates President Trump.”

“The most important thing that Congress and the American people can do at this time is ensure that neither the president nor any member of his administration acts to derail this investigation,” Welch continued. “Doing so, in my view, would be an impeachable offense.”

Disclosure: Paul Heintz worked as Peter Welch’s communications director from November 2008 to March 2011.

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Paul Heintz was part of the Seven Days news team from 2012 to 2020. He served as political editor and wrote the "Fair Game" political column before becoming a staff writer.

13 replies on “Leahy: It Appears Trump Has Broken the Law”

  3. Trump is a symptom, not the disease. Trump is the embodiment of the Ugly American: vulgar, ignorant, virtually illiterate, a bully, obese, unreflective, impulsive, over-reaching, and enchanted by his own “exceptionalism”. Trump is the real face of what passes for “capitalism” and “free markets”, which is nothing less than the corporate capture and takeover of government at all levels, including state and local.

    The GOP has chained itself by the neck to Trump’s ship and hopefully they will go down with him. Their omnicidal environmental policies make them, as Noam Chomsky says, the most dangerous organization on the planet.

  4. I agree with you NORTH, the republicans seem to be afraid to stand up to trump for some reason. It seems as though they are all a bunch of spineless people who only represent themselves and could care less about the people who voted for them!

  5. The Mueller investigation would have more credibility if it were a true bipartisan investigation; and were equally prosecuting members of the Hillary Clinton campaign for what are now acknowledged as their equally blatant campaign finance violations (i.e., the direct payments from Hillary Clinton Campaign to Perkins Coie law firm for Fusion GPS/Steele dossier that they were required to report as campaign expenditures and conveniently did not).

    And where is the prosecution of Tony Podesta for engaging in widely acknowledged similar crimes as Paul Manafort? His brother, John Podesta, was Hillary’s campaign manager, and Tony Podesta raised money for Hillary (and was playing both sides, advising for Jeb Bush). Why no charges vs. Tony Podesta & equally prioritizing his prosecution? Since Mueller chose not to do anything with Podesta but refer it to different office, hopefully US Attorney’s Office in NY will get on this.

    Strange, Leahy talking about using money illegally in a campaign and no mention of concern about Hillary’s campaign? No mention of Podesta? The Mueller investigation is good to be rooting out illegality but they should be doing so in bipartisan manner. Plenty of people deep in the swamp on both sides.

  6. “The Mueller investigation would have more credibility if it were a true bipartisan investigation; and were equally prosecuting members of the Hillary Clinton campaign”

    Um, except that Mueller — A REPUBLICAN — was appointed to investigate the Trump campaign. He doesn’t get to decide that he will also investigate the Clinton campaign and the people in it. The person who decides the scope of his investigation is the person in the Department of Justice who appointed him, and that was Rod Rosenstein — A REPUBLICAN. Mr. Mueller doesn’t get to change the scope of his investigation, and, I’m sorry, but his investigation is not “not credible” merely because he is only doing the investigation that he was tasked with doing.

  7. Yeah all you democrats all think alike. Where was your outrage when Clinton had SEX in the Oval Office and lied to us “I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT WOMAN” He claimed the same thing when he was Governor of Arkansas. Where were you when obama lied right and left, gave billions to Iran, kissed our enemies asses, where were you when he released terrorist. where were you when holden ran guns to Mexico and to ISIS. .??? Wheres your outrage when these senators and congressman’s paid off their sex mistresses with taxpayers money. Wheres your outrage when obama told lie after lie, brought in muslims and illegals left and right. Where’s your OUTRAGE when illegals are murdering innocent women? Where was your rage when obama snatched children from their mother and put them in cages, you didn’t say a damn word., oh and clinton was the one who put that law in. Leahy is an old worn out fool. The only reason these damn democrats and rino republicans hate Pres Trump is because he’s draining the SWAMP. you know the ones who are bought or paid off to destroy our country..like sanders,welch and scott .

  8. Elect a clown,expect a circus ! Can’t get much uglier than what we have with our Lier-In-Chief,what a
    total embarrassment ! What high standards we have have these days !

  9. Does anybody actually pay attention to this buffoon? Can anybody….anybody… tell me what this man accomplished during his lifetime of ripping off the American taxpayer?

  10. I would like Senator Leahy to advise what law President Trump has allegedly broke. Leahy like his fellow Democrats like to make vague statements but can not cite a single law that the President has broken. They are on a witch hunt and using the media to further their cause. Trumps policy’s are working and they can not stand it.

  11. Donna
    Trump is not draining the swamp, he’s making things much worse. The republicans are a bunch of spineless pussys to stand up to him and demand answers. He denied paying off the two women he had the affairs with, he’s misused campaign funds, he’s also had kids put in cages and the list goes on. So before you judge the democrats take a good look at the republicans and all of their corrupt actions!

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