I have no clue as to what the laws are, so I’ll leave it up to you smart folks here at the Dope to help educate me.
I know there will be differences of opinion here so I didn’t ask it in GQ. Hope it’s not too contentious to get into GD, but who knows with you smartie pants peeps.
Probably nothing. They’ll just go back to whatever shady shit they were doing before, but now with the force of an ex-POTUS behind them. The Dems are impotent pussies, and the Republicans of course still won’t give a shit.
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Not that that’s what I want to happen of course. If I were a religious man I’d be praying to any deity I could think of for something, or even a LOT of VERY BAD things to happen to all of them, legally or otherwise, but my Jedi-level cynicism says they’ll just walk away scot-free.
There will be plenty of bitching for sure, by everyone, but ultimately nothing will happen to them.
Jebus loves me: They (Trump, family, cabinet, advisors, evangelical leaders) all serve decades-long prison sentences after having every bloody cent of their riches confiscated. Most die in prison.
Next Best Outcome: They all get sued into penury.
Most Likely Outcome: Everybody skates because the Dems want to “move on.”
That. He’ll pardon himself on the way out. Blame Gerald Ford for starting the idea of Presidential immunity and “moving on”, but it’s in place now. He’ll still face prosecution from NYS though, and so will Uday and Qusay.
The remedy for a president abusing his power is impeachment, which isn’t relevant if the dems win.
There are several law suits going on that will keep going, and there might be a case or two kept on the back burner for after he’s out of office. That’s going to cost him.
He’s brand is … not what it was, but who will care about boycotting Trump, or boycotting people doing business with Trump, once he’s out of office? Is political bookings the only thing keeping his hotels and clubs afloat and will people with the money and loose morals to golf with Trump now have any incentive to not play golf with ex-president Trump?
I certainly wouldn’t have predicted Trump remaining at 40% approval through scandal after scandal and obvious mental deterioration, so I’m not predicting how his brand will fare after he’s out of office.
Given the Mueller report, if Dems win the Justice Department will be free to prosecute them for the crimes outlined in the report. I expect that to happen.
If the Dems win the Presidency and both houses of Congress, I wouldn’t be shocked if there was some movement toward divorcing the Justice Department from the Executive Branch, given how the past few years have gone.
If a Democrat wins the election next time, Trump’s going to have to go somewhere which has a slight promise of welcoming him. Maybe Moscow, or Alabama.
The Dems will lose any momentum to go after him. Trump’s attorneys will slow down the criminal investigations until they get too spendy to continue. Or he’ll be found guilty and fined, not imprisoned, a fine he’ll refuse to pay and use various legal tactics to postpone payment.
Someone will ghost-write Trump’s memoirs, and he’ll still have “rallies,” though now people will have to pay to get in. He’ll avoid paying taxes on his $200,000+ annual pension.
Melania will go back to NYC, but she and Trump will no longer pretend they’re still a couple, though they won’t divorce. She’ll use her $20k annual pension on fashion accessories.
Ivanka and Jared will get jobs as commentators on Fox News.
Tiffany will get her own reality show.
Donny, Jr. and Eric will sink back into anonymity.
My hope is that there are a pair of US Marshalls waiting with handcuffs at the bottom of the grandstand on inauguration day (which will have the biggest crowds ever).
But I have a feeling it’s going to be a repeat of the Bush transition to Obama, where nothing happened because the toothless Democrats didn’t want to offend anyone.