The New York Times reports that Donald Trump tried to get Matthew Whitaker (then acting Attorney General) to put one of his own political appointees in charge of the investigation over Michael Cohen’s hush money payments. The U.S. Attorney (and Trump supporter)  he wanted to lead the investigation had already recused himself. Whitaker rebuffed the request. The newspaper writes:

“As federal prosecutors in Manhattan gathered evidence late last year about President Trump’s role in silencing women with hush payments during the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump called Matthew G. Whitaker, his newly installed attorney general, with a question. He asked whether Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Trump ally, could be put in charge of the widening investigation, according to several American officials with direct knowledge of the call.”

This helps explain why Whitaker was so reluctant to talk about his conversations with Trump. Now Whitaker could be a witness in an obstruction of justice case against him. https://t.co/eAbhBsqaCy

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) February 19, 2019