I think there are a lot of things they could do, and I agree that’s one of them. I also believe that Mueller himself will have taken strategic steps to ensure the results of his investigation will be made public one way or another.
There’s just no way Mueller and his team worked as hard and long as they have and not find a mechanism to inform the American people of their results. He has the approval of roughly 60% of Americans. People want to know about this, and he’ll find a way to tell them.
We’re so far past the “norms” that it’s hard to guess how he might do it, but I’m confident he will.
The strategy I currently think could work is an overwhelming show of strength, such as executing on multiple indictments simultaneously soon after the mid-terms – so many that for Trump to attempt to pardon them all would be such obvious pure obstruction that even Republicans, assuming they remain in control of the Senate, would have to act. I believe Mueller will hold back some dual-jurisdiction charges in case Trump does attempt the pardon route. kaylasdad99 is correct so far as I understand, that only cases already tried by the Feds would be subject to Gamble.
More likely, Trump is going to fire Sessions by Wednesday, install Noel Francisco as acting AG, who will immediately take steps to curb Mueller. I don’t think he will fire him. I think he will try to curtail his funding and hollow out other US Attorneys’ offices in an effort to stop federal prosecutions.
I also believe that if we think we’ve seen chaos up to now, we ain’t seen nuttin’ yet. Things are going to turn really ugly after today, no matter the outcome of the mid-term election.
The thing is, IMO, people should be asking themselves: how far am I willing to go to preserve the democratic ideals of the United States?
If we wake up tomorrow and every election result that was certified showed that the GOP won, what would you do? Would you go to work? Would you try and have a normal day? Would you accept it?
Don’t go to work; go to the courthouse and stage a sit-in protest denouncing the election results?
Stay home, call friends and stage a protest on a street corner?
Do what you can to shut down the mechanisms being used to fraudulently claim an electoral win?
But hey, if the country isn’t very important, I can see where you’d place it low on your priority list, even if that means someone else is just gonna take what rightfully belongs to you.
I’m just saying that IMO this is something that people should think about now.
To be honest, I’d be far more concerned about such a result if prominent Republicans (besides the dipshit in the Oval Office) were out proclaiming they expect to win. They’re not. They’re either hedging their comments or staying silent. I think there is more quiet opposition to Trump even within his own caucus than he realizes. They may not contradict him publicly, but they don’t appear to be helping him that much, either.
If we were being primed by with a concerted effort to expect a GOP sweep, that would scare me.
But in answer to your question, Snowboarder Bo, I do think there would be a significant response by citizens. I’d be among 'em, in the streets.
As much as the media wants to pretend this is a horse race, it honestly doesn’t look like one. If Democrats vote as we expect them to, and if only 10% of Republicans cross over and 60% of independents break toward Dems… well, that’s a blow out. As hard as Republicans could work to game the vote, it would be almost impossible to do. That’s why they’re doing dumb things like overtly racist robocalls and why Trump sounds ever more unhinged at his rallies.
I think that’s a misstatement, although certainly an understandable one considering the confusion around Gamble. It doesn’t affect state prosecutions and/or convictions. It would preclude a state from prosecuting a defendant on the basis of the same criminal charges arising from the same set of facts.
Examples:
Manafort convicted by state charges. Gamble doesn’t apply.
Manafort convicted by federal charges, then pardoned and the state brings charges for the same incident. Gamble applies, and Manafort could not be retried by the state.
Manafort convicted by federal charges, then pardoned. A state brings different charges that are similar but not based on the same incident (think money laundering). Gamble does not apply.
It will force prosecutors to be more creative in the federal courts, but I’m not sure Gamble will be upended – no matter what Orrin Hatch wants.
I hope that’s how it would be, but then the risk is, they might feel pressured to rush the investigations and trials. That could cause critical mistakes.
Nunez and Rohrbacher are now GONE… two huge roadblocks to a REAL investigation. I think THEY should be investigated too. For corruption, obstruction, treason, conspiracy, fraud, false imprisionment of people seeking refugee status, kidnapping, anything and everything that could possibly stick.
Look into their “finances”. Look for kompromat. Then go after McConnell, who has been blocking any investigations ever since Obama tried to start a bi-partisan one into Russian meddling.
Not just them of course, but it’s a nice start.
And of course, Trump himself. For all the above, “self dealing”, tax fraud, tax evasion, and violation of the Emoluments clause.
This is not a time for “bi-partisanship”, conciliation, or playing nice. This is the time to make a statement and make an example.