Donald Trump hits back at talk of impeachment in wake of campaign finance scandal
Video report by ITV News Washington correspondent Robert Moore
President Donald Trump has repeated denials of any wrongdoing in the 2016 presidential election campaign and hit back at those calling for his impeachment.
On Thursday, the president said any calls for his removal from office were confusing.
“I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job. I tell you what - if I ever got impeached then I think the markets would crash”, he said.
“I think everyone would be very poor because without this thinking, you would see numbers that you wouldn’t believe – in reverse.”
In defence of his economic record, he also launched an attack on Hillary Clinton.
“Had Hillary and the Democrats got in, if she had been President – you would’ve had negative growth.”
Mr Trump has been scrutinised after his former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges on Tuesday, including campaign finance violations that he said he carried out in coordination with Mr Trump.
The 51-year-old's admission relates to “hush money” payments to two women Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, who accuse Mr Trump of sexual misconduct.
On Thursday, Mr Trump suggested that Cohen's legal trouble stemmed from his other businesses, including involvement with the New York City taxi cab industry, and that he decided to offer “lies” about Trump to reduce his own legal exposure.
“It's called flipping and it almost should be illegal,” Trump said. “In all fairness to him, most people are going to do that.”
At a White House briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted at least seven times that Trump had done nothing wrong and was not the subject of criminal charges.
However, Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davies told ITV News: “We have a President of the United States – if he wasn’t for the fact he is president - he would be subject to indictment, conviction and imprisonment.”
Pressure also mounted this week after Mr Trump's former campaign manager was convicted of financial charges.
Paul Manafort faces trial on separate charges in September in the District of Columbia that include acting as a foreign agent.
Mr Trump has praised Manafort as “a brave man!” raising speculation he become the recipient of a pardon.
In his Fox interview, the president argued the prosecution was an overreach by the Justice Department and he revived his criticism of the leadership of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Mr Trump has also fought back on Twitter, insisting he is subject to a "witch hunt".