Hatch: ‘I don’t care’ if prosecutors are arguing Trump broke the law

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on Monday dismissed federal charges implicating President Trump in crimes committed by his former lawyer, saying that he doesn’t care about the argument made in a court filing by the Southern District of New York because Trump is a good president.

“I don’t care, all I can say is he’s doing a good job as president,” Hatch said in an interview with CNN, before adding that he’s not bothered by the filing because he doesn’t think Trump was involved in crimes. 

“The Democrats will do anything to hurt this president,” he told CNN. “What happened before he was elected president is one thing, but since he’s been elected the economy’s done well, our country is moving ahead. We’re in better shape than when we were before he became president. And I think we ought to judge him on that basis.”

{mosads}After CNN reporter Manu Raju noted that it wasn’t Democrats, but federal prosecutors, that made the allegations about Trump, Hatch responded, “You think he’s a Republican, do you?”

“All I can say is this, President Trump before he became president, that’s another world. Since he’s become president, this economy has charged ahead. We’re all better off,” Hatch added. 

The Hill has reached out to Hatch’s office for further comment. 

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York released a court filing in their case against Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, last week. In it, prosecutors say that Cohen “acted in coordination with and at the direction of” an individual that matches Trump’s description before the election in steering payments to silence a pair of women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, about alleged affairs.

Trump has repeatedly denied that he had affairs with the women.

The filing does not specifically name Trump, but makes multiple references to him as “Individual-1.”

Despite his cooperation with investigators, prosecutors with the Southern District of New York recommended a “substantial” prison sentence for Cohen for alleged federal crimes, which include bank and tax fraud.