INVESTIGATIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “Federal prosecutors’ decision to end an investigation into hush money payments to women claiming affairs with Donald Trump relied at least in part on long-standing Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday [7-18-19]. The Justice Department told a federal judge on Monday that it had ‘effectively concluded’ its investigation into efforts to silence the women in the final months of the 2016 campaign, but did not explain why it had done so. Prosecutors have said the payoffs violated a federal law that restricts campaign donations. A person familiar with the case, who was not authorized to discuss it publicly, said it was unclear whether prosecutors made a determination that they had sufficient evidence to bring a case against Trump or anyone other than his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty last year. But the Justice Department’s opinion that a president cannot be indicted factored into the decision to end the probe, the person said.”
–Kevin Johnson and Kristine Phillips, “Prosecutors weighed DOJ policy blocking indictment of a sitting president in closing Trump hush-money probe,” USA Today, July 18, 2019 5:53 pm