# The Trump Impeachment Inquiry **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 24, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771 "2019-09-24T20:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 48
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/941 "2019-09-27T18:51:22Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Voting based on what you imagine the political consequences of your vote is failing to live up to your oath of office. So, in other words, Mitch McConnell would be for it. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/942 "2019-09-27T19:08:16Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Please see [post #891.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21885128&postcount=891) This continues to be a fast moving thread, so I’ll reiterate the instructions there: Sorry, didn’t see that post. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/943 "2019-09-27T19:11:20Z")
> [@Emily\_Litella](#): > > He can’t resign, his ego won’t let him. Sure he can. Whatever instincts he had that allowed him to file for bankruptcy all those times would be the same instinct that makes him able to resign. Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/944 "2019-09-27T19:12:34Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Republican consultant [Mike Murphy says a Republican senator told him that 30 Republican senators would vote for impeachment](https://www.newsweek.com/30-republicans-vote-impeach-trump-secret-1461389), if they could do so in secret. (I don’t know if that means they’d vote for removal, though). If true, then maybe they’re just waiting for something the public can easily grasp. A lot of their supporters are too ignorant to understand most of Trump’s corruption. I wonder if this was a trial balloon. Now Mitch has to worry that these 30 senators might actually grow a spine, and wonder if convincing Trump to resign now might be [strikethrough]the only way he keeps his Majority Leader position[/strikethrough] in the best interests of the legacy of Donald J. Trump. (Dammit, how do you do strikethrough on SDMB?) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/945 "2019-09-27T19:13:02Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Hypothetical: suppose Republicans figure that yes, there is serious criminal behavior that can’t be tolerated. A delegation of Republican House and Senate leaders goes to the White House and says “We think you need to go and if we have to, we’re prepared to vote you out.” Would he resign before being impeached and convicted? If I had to bet, I’d say no, he’d take the party down with him and force them to have a vote. But maybe he’d take the Nixonian exit. I believe he would resign, but not in anything so dignified as a Nixonian way. He would claim that he can only fight the “deep state” from outside the “swamp”, and would work to constantly stir up trouble for the rest of his life. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Even with Pence promising blanket pardons for everyone, Oprah-style, there’d still be a New York State process server standing right outside the office. Nixon could only be coaxed into resigning because he knew that would be the end of it all. Trump knows his only way to avoid prison is to \*stay \*in the White House. So, yeah, it’ll have to be the hard way. Nah. As I have said before, when he leaves office he will not step foot in any any blue state for a New York minute. He will go on a neverending bus tour (staying out of airports, where the federal government predominates) of deep red states. He will have protection from the law enforcement apparatus in those states, and it’s unlikely anyone including the federal government will push their luck in trying to do much about it as long as he stays in that part of the country. And you can go from Georgia to Idaho without ever leaving the deep red areas. He’ll just barnstorm around, holding rallies every other day and annoying the hell out of us—but will just be an irritant we will have to endure for a while, until his sedentary junk food lifestyle finally catches up to him. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/946 "2019-09-27T19:15:05Z")
> [@Emily\_Litella](#): > > I also agree they would be happy if Trump resigned. But - anyone who’s seen Trump in the last few years knows he’d never admit to doing anything wrong, will never admit anything he did was bad judgment on his part and he’d never apologize for anything. > He can’t resign, his ego won’t let him. I think there’s a small chance that he could do a rage quit. If the writing on the wall is so big that even he can see it, I think his ego might shift to “you guys are all losers and you don’t deserve me.” This could happen even if he’ll be subjecting himself to prosecution – he’s shown that he does not often make the best strategic or tactical choices. . . ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/947 "2019-09-27T19:18:18Z")
I wonder what the odds are of Trump jetting off to Russia, Saudi Arabia or Israel. My money would be on Saudi Arabia. The princes there have opulent palaces with gold fixtures (and other crap in god-awful taste), so Trump would fit right in. I’m sure a Saudi prince would love to have a US President as a pet. He could invite folks over to look at Trump in his apartment, through the one-way glass. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/948 "2019-09-27T19:19:38Z")
See him as a cult leader. What does a cult leader have to gain by stepping down from the cult? Shame? A loss of power? Loneliness? Much better to be martyred and keep the love of the cultists. The cultists might eventually abandon the cult leader, but doing so has a huge cost, as long as the cult is coherent: anyone who leaves will face the fury and shunning of those who don’t. Even if you want to leave, it’s real hard to be the first. The Senate is full of flunkies who were in the church before it was taken over by a cult leader. As long as the leader is in charge, they face reprisals from him if they disagree with him. As long as the cult is coherent, they face reprisals from cultists if they martyr the leader. The whole system is remarkably self-reinforcing. I don’t expect any of the three levels–the leader, the flunkies, or the cultists–to crack, because each of them faces reprisals if they do. This is going to be real ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/949 "2019-09-27T19:21:07Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I wonder what the odds are of Trump jetting off to Russia, Saudi Arabia or Israel. > > My money would be on Saudi Arabia. The princes there have opulent palaces with gold fixtures (and other crap in god-awful taste), so Trump would fit right in. > > I’m sure a Saudi prince would love to have a US President as a pet. He could invite folks over to look at Trump in his apartment, through the one-way glass. Putin wouldn’t want to have to deal with a useful idiot every day; he wouldn’t be allowed off the plane. Israel has problems enough of their own; the plane might be prevented from entering their airspace. Saudi Arabia might just let him in, but they would make an ostentatious display of walking him past the bone saw sharpening room on the way to his new lodging. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/950 "2019-09-27T19:25:25Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Voting based on what you imagine the political consequences of your vote Pretty sure that this is somewhere in the top 5 rules of the GOP Handbook. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/951 "2019-09-27T19:28:07Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I wonder if this was a trial balloon. Now Mitch has to worry that these 30 senators might actually grow a spine, and wonder if convincing Trump to resign now might be [strikethrough]the only way he keeps his Majority Leader position[/strikethrough] in the best interests of the legacy of Donald J. Trump. > > (Dammit, how do you do strikethrough on SDMB?) [del]Like this.[/del] Use ‘del’ instead of ‘strikethrough’. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/952 "2019-09-27T19:30:15Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Pretty sure that this is somewhere in the top 5 rules of the GOP Handbook. And if we are fair, the Democratic handbook too. Which IMO is as it should be. Fortunately, we have better voters. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/953 "2019-09-27T19:33:19Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I wonder what the odds are of Trump jetting off to Russia, Saudi Arabia or Israel. > > My money would be on Saudi Arabia. The princes there have opulent palaces with gold fixtures (and other crap in god-awful taste), so Trump would fit right in. > > I’m sure a Saudi prince would love to have a US President as a pet. He could invite folks over to look at Trump in his apartment, through the one-way glass. That’s what I think, too. And he won’t announce it until he is safely ensconced. He’ll slink off in the dead of night like the slithering, slimy sneak he is, leaving everyone else to clean up the mess. No way he resigns. As someone else upthread (apologies for not recalling who) pointed out, there will be pardon-proof state arrest warrants awaiting him even if Pence decides to sacrifice his entire political future (such as it is) and pardon him for the federal crimes. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/954 "2019-09-27T19:39:21Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I am shocked, _shocked_ I tell you, to discover that the NRA leadership is made up of scumbags and traitors. The report just confirms what was pretty obvious from their political fundraising and connections to Russian individuals. The Kremlin hacked the political system financially and organically. It’s important to expose groups like the NRA for the traitors they are. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/955 "2019-09-27T19:41:15Z")
I think he’d have a hard time leaving Frump Tower behind, and it is located in a blue state. Maybe he would be willing to give it up as long as he got a new place that was just as gaudy. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/956 "2019-09-27T20:02:29Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > See him as a cult leader. What does a cult leader have to gain by stepping down from the cult? Shame? A loss of power? Loneliness? Much better to be martyred and keep the love of the cultists. > > The cultists might eventually abandon the cult leader, but doing so has a huge cost, as long as the cult is coherent: anyone who leaves will face the fury and shunning of those who don’t. Even if you want to leave, it’s real hard to be the first. Invite them all over for a party and make some [drinks](http://jelsert.com/brand/flavor-aid/). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/957 "2019-09-27T20:05:35Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Invite them all over for a party and make some [drinks](http://jelsert.com/brand/flavor-aid/). I’ll just ask Trump who posted this thing I’m quoting, and then tell him no take backs. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/958 "2019-09-27T20:13:43Z")
How about this for an interesting scenario? Impeachment goes to the Senate and gets 60 votes to remove. 65% of the public says Trump should resign “for the good of the country”. 53% of Republican voters say they would rather have Pence or someone else on the ballot next fall. Opinion begins to be divided on talk radio and Fox News, but Trump loyalists fiercely denounce the “Vichy Republicans” in their ranks. What does Trump do in this scenario? What do Pence\* and McConnell do? \*I also wonder what Pence’s political advisors are telling him to do right now. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/959 "2019-09-27T20:25:48Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > How about this for an interesting scenario? > > Impeachment goes to the Senate and gets 60 votes to remove. 65% of the public says Trump should resign “for the good of the country”. 53% of Republican voters say they would rather have Pence or someone else on the ballot next fall. Opinion begins to be divided on talk radio and Fox News, but Trump loyalists fiercely denounce the “Vichy Republicans” in their ranks. > > What does Trump do in this scenario? What do Pence\* and McConnell do? > > \*I also wonder what Pence’s political advisors are telling him to do right now. 60 votes = acquittal = “Total Exoneration! The Witch Hunt is Over!” It’s hard to imagine this happening. 10 GOP Senators aren’t going to risk their necks unless they know there are 7 more going that way. Mitch will make sure his troops either vote party line acquittal, or he’ll tell at least 17 (the ones in the safest seats) to vote to remove, depending on what his finger in the wind tells him. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/960 "2019-09-27T20:34:55Z")
> [@John T](#): > > And yes, Slacker, I calling out all of us… you included… to up our influence game! Damn right I am! Put your Senators and reps into your phones contact list, and call those motherfuckers! 1 call? In 6 days? Has nothing happened since? It’s good advice for folks to barrage their congressperson with phone calls and emails. But my congressperson is Nancy Pelosi. She doesn’t need any nudging from her constituents. who am I supposed to call? Some random representative in Kansas or Virginia? Congresspeople don’t give much credence to messages from people outside their district, do they? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=47) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=49)