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But Republicans usually shrug their shoulders.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, an outgoing Republican from Utah and the GOP's oldest senator, strongly rejected the federal government's allegations that Trump committed two crimes by ordering Cohen to pay very small sums.
When asked if he was worried that Trump would be involved, Hatch told CNN, "The Democrats will do anything to hurt this president." Informed by federal prosecutors in New York, Hatch said: "OK, but I do not care, all I can say is that he's doing a good job as president . "
Other senators wondered whether Cohen's allegations that Trump was involved were credible, given that the source was a known liar. Trump denied Saturday asking Cohen to make the payments.
"As long as Cohen is a liar, I should not give much credence to what he says," said outgoing Senate Judiciary President Chuck Grassley, who will head Finance. Committee next year.
In September, Cohen declared for the first time in court that he had been instructed by Trump to make payments to the two women. Prosecutors confirmed this allegation in a sentencing document for Cohen on Friday, in which they said Cohen should receive a "substantial sentence" for the crimes he committed, including violations of campaign funding. for payments to both women, a tax evasion and lie to Congress.
Grassley said that federal prosecutors had received "information from a liar".
Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, questioned the fact that prosecutors would rely on Cohen's information and that the charges were removed from the initial investigation into the collusion led by the prosecutor. special advice against Russia.
"Jesus loves him, but everyone considers him an idiot," Kennedy told reporters. "It is obvious that he is a malicious mediator.And if I were a prosecutor, I would not base a prosecution on evidence provided by Mr. Cohen."
"Listen, I do not downplay this, this campaign finance law is important," said Kennedy. "But No.1, we are far from colluding with a foreign agent to influence the election of 2016, which I thought it was. Violations of the law on the financing of the campaign, No. 2, are usually civil cases. " He pointed out that it was sometimes criminal cases, such as unsuccessful lawsuits against former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.
South Dakota Senator John Thune, who will be the Republican in Senate No. 2 next year, said he was "premature". to judge the impact of Cohen's developments on the wider investigation and on Trump.
"I mean, until we know all the details – it's a conviction record," Thune said. "I'm sure a lot more information will come out of the Southern District (New York) and, at one point, from the Mueller Inquiry as well, so it's hard to read too much about it. " [19659004] Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she had to wait to see all of Mueller's findings before determining if the president might have broken the law.
"We must know all the facts and me" I will wait until Mr. Mueller finishes his investigation. I did not review the statements you mentioned, "she said of Cohen's sentence ranking.
" I do not know if that changes things much, "said Senator Roy Blunt who will be the Senate Republican number 4 next year. "I think it would have to happen before anything really changes."
Hatch suggested that Cohen's allegations were disproportionate to be able to attack Trump.
"I do not think he was involved in crimes but even then, you know, you can do anything a crime under Existing laws if you wish, you can explode, you can do a lot of things, "Hatch said." All I can say is this: President Trump, before becoming president, c & rsquo; Is another world. "
This story was updated.
Lauren Fox of CNN, Elizabeth Landers and Phil Mattingly contributed to this report.
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