Dem rep sees ‘beginning of the end’ of Trump administration

Rep. Denny Heck (D-Wash.) late Wednesday said that he believes the country is witnessing the “beginning of the end” of the Trump administration following weeks of legal activity by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.

Heck, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he believes the “walls are closing in” on President Trump.

{mosads}”I’m gonna say something tonight I haven’t said before,” Heck said on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.” “I’ve been talking about the Russia investigation for nearly two years now, since I’ve been on the intel committee.”

“But in light of what happened today, in light of all of the events of the last few weeks, in light of all the sentencing memos that have been filed now, 36 indictments, three prison terms … I’m prepared to say something I’ve never said,” Heck said. 

“The writing’s on the wall, the walls are closing in, and this is the beginning of the end for the Trump administration,” he added. 

Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced earlier Wednesday to three years in federal prison for a series of crimes he committed while working for Trump, including campaign finance violations stemming from payments to two women alleging to have had affairs with Trump.

Federal prosecutors in New York last week recommended Cohen serve “substantial” prison time, despite his ongoing cooperation in the Mueller probe and other law enforcement investigations.

The prosecutors also said Cohen committed the campaign finance violations at the direction of “Individual-1,” who is widely believed to be Trump. 

Mueller in recent weeks released sentencing memos for Cohen, Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. 

“When you say beginning of the event — that means impeachment?” CNN’s Erin Burnett asked Heck on Wednesday. “Means he’s gone before the end of the term?” 

“I don’t know precisely what it means except for what I intend for it to mean is this: that the Mueller investigation is getting closer and closer,” Heck replied. “Now, they now have the president as an unindicted co-conspirator for breaking campaign finance laws.” 

“But we also know that they’re going down two other tracks,” he said. “They’re going down of course the Russian interference track, which was their core mission. We already know that there was collusion.”

“Collusion is different than conspiracy and coordination, and that remains to be seen based on Robert Mueller’s final work product,” he said. “They’re also exploring, as we full well know, obstruction of justice activity on the part of either the president or people on his behalf.”

Heck concluded, “I don’t think that Bob Mueller’s going to be deterred here.” 

Recent reports have indicated Mueller’s team is working on its final report.