Attorney Michael Avenatti called for the indictment of President Trump on Saturday, a day after federal prosecutors implicated the president in two felonies in a court filing.
“No court has ever ruled that the POTUS cannot be indicted and there is nothing in the constitution that states as much,” Avenatti said on Twitter. “It is time for the SCOTUS to decide the issue.”
.@realDonaldTrump should be indicted for committing the two felonies designed to get him elected. Now. No court has ever ruled that the POTUS cannot be indicted and there is nothing in the constitution that states as much. It is time for the SCOTUS to decide the issue.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) December 8, 2018
In a sentencing memo filed Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, prosecutors said Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen arranged two hush money payments during the 2016 campaign “in coordination with and at the direction of” Trump, whom the documents call “Individual 1.”
Legal scholars say it’s not clear whether a sitting president can face indictment, though some argue Trump can be impeached for actions before he took office.
Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts, including campaign finance violations and tax fraud, in August. In their sentencing memo Friday, prosecutors called for him to serve a “substantial” sentence, which could be up to four years. Avenatti, who frequently jabs at the president, praised the recommendation on behalf of himself and his client, Stormy Daniels, one of the two women who received payments in return for their silence about sexual contact with Trump.
That case was referred to federal prosecutors in New York by special counsel Robert Mueller. In a separate case against Cohen about lying under oath about plans for Trump Tower Moscow, Mueller recommended Cohen’s sentence be served concurrently with the other.
