President Donald Trump on Wednesday slammed a New York Times report he asked then-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker if a U.S. attorney who was loyal to him could oversee the investigation into hush money payments as 'false' and proclaimed the newspaper the 'enemy of the people.'
'The New York Times reporting is false. They are a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!,' Trump tweeted.
Democrats pounced on the bombshell report from The New York Times with one lawmaker saying, if it were true, Trump was unfit for office and should resign.
President Trump slammed a New York Times report as 'false'
President Donald Trump asked then-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker if a U.S. attorney he appointed could oversee a hush money probe
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker testifying before the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month
'If this disturbing New York Times report is accurate, then the President of the United States committed obstruction of justice,' Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell said in a statement. 'That the President would seek to impede a criminal investigation in his home Manhattan makes abundantly clear, yet again, that Congress must see his business and personal tax records. Any leader of this nation that seeks to tamper with a criminal investigation is unfit to serve and must resign.'
The report detailed how Trump asked Whitaker if Geoffrey Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Trump ally who the president appointed to the job, could be put in charge of the federal prosecutors looking into the president's role in paying off women during the 2016 campaign.
Berman had already recused himself from overseeing the investigation and it's unclear what Whitaker did next.
Trump, however, soured on him the way he soured on Whitaker's predecessor, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, after Sessions recused himself from overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
Sessions became a target of Trump's fury and a frequent object of humiliation as the president publicly said he wished he hadn't appointed him and issued multiple tweets attacking his management of the Justice Department.
Sessions resigned after the midterms and Whitaker was named acting attorney general by Trump, who has made it clear he expects loyalty from those he puts in positions of power.
The inquiry into the hush money payments is run by Robert Khuzami, a career prosecutor who took over after Berman recused himself from the probe due to a conflict of interest.
There is no evidence Whitaker intervened, The Times reported, but he did tell some associates at the Justice Department that the prosecutors in New York required 'adult supervision.'
Last month, in his first and last congressional testimony as acting attorney general, Whitaker told the House Judiciary Committee the president had never pressured him over the various investigations focused on his conduct in the 2016 presidential race.
House Democrats are now looking into whether Whitaker committed perjury.
'Very concerning @NYTimes report about the President's conduct. One of the many reasons why Matthew Whitaker must come back to @HouseJudiciary to clarify his testimony,' panel chairman Jerry Nadler tweeted on Tuesday.
President Trump denied the New York Times report on Tuesday.
'No, I don't know who gave you that,' he told reporters in the Oval Office.
'I have a lot of respect for Mr. Whitaker. I think he's done a great job. Very very straight shooter,' he added.
A Justice Department spokeswoman also said the White House had not asked Whitaker to interfere.
'Under oath to the House Judiciary Committee, then-Acting Attorney General Whitaker stated that
