Donald Trump's best option is to hope for impeachment.

[kentuck]

He has no good options but impeachment is the best option that is left.

At this point in time, he is in danger of going to jail. Bob Mueller is turning over every rock in his investigation and very few expect to find nothing. Whether it be violation of RICO statutes, money laundering, bank fraud, or treason, there are no good options for Donald Trump.

But, the House of Representatives would probably refuse to take up any impeachment question until after the mid-term elections? They would prefer for the Democrats to do their dirty work. Can they wait that long?

If the House were to impeach, now or later, the trial would move to the US Senate where two-thirds would be required to convict. And that is where Donald Trump's best hope lies, in the US Senate. All he would need is 34 votes to escape conviction. Donald Trump would prefer those odds to the odds that are presently on the table.

Surely he can get 34 Republicans to vote with him and against conviction? If so, just like Bill Clinton, he would return to his job. That is the best option that is left for Donald Trump. That would be the smart action for him to seek.

But, Donald Trump is not smart. He thinks of today, not tomorrow. He is listening to people like Steve Bannon, telling him to fire Rosenstein and take control. That is the more likely option that he will choose.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

1. Plus

Impeachment will keep Congress busy NOT undoing the retro-fitting this admin has done w all things Obama. We need him out so we can hit the ground running.

[Vinca]

2. He's in a double/triple bind. Even if he's impeached, other charges that might have been unearthed

could be charged and if they're violations of state laws, Pence can't pardon him. If I eventually see Don in an orange jumpsuit I'll die a happy woman.

[Butterflylady]

3. "Let the democrats do it."

I've thought that all along. The rethugs do not want to dirty their hands, it would look bad to the base, so if the democrats take on the task their in the clear.

[duforsure]

4. Look for a lot more searches coming...

And another lawyer to be swept up in corruption , and from more illegal activities. He surrounds himself with criminals. If he fires anyone in the DOJ to get to Mueller watch the bombshells drop on him. He'll be in worse trouble. His only way out is resignation hoping he'll save some others and himself. Its about to begin, so grab refreshments, and some popcorn because this trump train wreck is about to happen, and he'll begin it onto himself. Criminals don't last long in OUR White House.

[gademocrat7]

5. He has betrayed our country.

We have never had this kind of crisis. Impeachment is not enough.

[drray23]

6. Conviction or not in the Senate does not preclude

Court actions later on. The impeachment and conviction process in house and Senate does not trigger jeopardy, it's a political process.
So, even if he is impeached and convicted, he will still have to face justice if he committed crimes.

[kentuck]

8. True but...

Impeachment would buy him time. He would use it to herd his supporters together. At this time, it is his best option. In the future, who knows?

[FM123]

7. Worse than Bannon, Trumpy keeps listening to those voices inside his head...

[imanamerican63]

9. But!

According to Hannity? It is everyone else


Pathetic, pathetic & Pathetic!

[Demsrule86]

10. And what happens after impeachment? There is no mathematical way we can gain enough votes in the

Senate for conviction and removal.

[NCTraveler]

11. This is dependent on so many things.

“Surely he can get 34 Republicans to vote with him and against conviction?”

There is currently zero way to appropriately quantify and answer.

[kentuck]

12. I would say that if you were playing the odds...

It would be highly unlikely that the Republicans would convict one of their own, no matter what he is charged with.

[drray23]

13. Under normal circumstances I would agree

However, Trump has so completely ravaged their party and will continue to do so. They may go along with conviction if they see it as the only way to salvage what is left of the GOP. It will depend on how strong the evidence that Mueller uncovers is.

[kentuck]

14. We could only hope.

But that is still probably his best odds. Otherwise, he will end up destroying even the remnants of the Republican Party. There will be nothing left for them to re-build.

[NCTraveler]

15. I disagree.

Every one of them will jump ship under the right circumstances.

Most are currently hiding from the cameras. Not doing daily I support Trump briefings. He has already lost most. They, along with Democrats, don’t have what is necessary to impeach. That is why no answer can be quantified at this moment.

I do think it is going to take more than off the books campaign contributions, sex scandals, or the like. The bar has been set at a direct line of collusion with Russia. Still, there are things we simply do not know. Even Asante/Trump might rise to the level needed. It’s going to have to be clear.

I’m not banking on impeachment. The difficult is going to be his personality if we regain the chambers. We will no longer be able to be the party of no.

[kentuck]

16. We would like to think that would be the case...

However, very few have jumped ship up to this point.

No matter which Party is in power, as long as Donald Trump is in the White House, he will be a threat to us all. Perhaps the Democrats would finally change the War Powers Act ?

[NCTraveler]

20. Why would they jump ship at this point.

That would make no political sense and is a part of the point I was making. If they jumped ship now: 1) They would receive no additional Democratic support at polling booths. 2) Deplorables in their districts will leave them.

The line has to be clear. There truly are only a handful of Republicans who are party over country. Trump is approaching the line where they will no longer be able to justify that Trump is in their best interests.

[kentuck]

23. My point also that enough would not jump ship to convict.

So he would remain in his job for the time being, even if he were impeached in the House.

In the long run, it is difficult to see how he saves himself?

[NCTraveler]

24. Enough would not jump ship

I don’t think a case can be made for that without evidence in hand.

I transposed party over country in my reply above. My apologies.

[kentuck]

25. I think we agree on that?

[TheBlackAdder]

17. He's going to summit with Putin in Moscow and never get back onboard Air Force One.

[kentuck]

19. I had not thought of that option.

That may be his best bet?

[NewJeffCT]

18. The House won't immediately seek to impeach

My guess is that we'd get hearings and people like Kushner, Trump Jr, Eric Trump, Bannon and others would testify in televised hearings. They may try to claim executive privilege, but I think the courts will reject that argument. The GOP will still defend Trump.
However, in between most of them taking the 5th dozens of times, I'm guessing we'll get one (or more) of them melting down on the stand and admitting to working with the Russians and that Trump Sr was in on it big time. Bannon mentioned a few of them folding easily.

Once the meltdown happens, the tide will turn against Team Trump and Republicans will join in the calls for impeachment because the public is now strongly for impeachment. Even a few Fox News hosts (Shep Smith for one) will call for Trump to resign.

I'd say roughly half the House GOP and Senate GOP will vote to impeach. Trump will keep screaming NO COLLUSION and FAKE NEWS as they lead him out of the White House.

Mike Pence takes over, but is a wounded duck and doesn't accomplish much as president and decides not to run for re-election in 2020.

[kentuck]

21. Trump would probably prefer to stay in the White House than resign...

I think he feels more protected with the power of the presidency behind him.

He will force their hands if he fires Mueller, maybe even with Rosenstein?

But they knew he was a snake when they took him in...

[NewJeffCT]

22. I wonder

if Trump does fire Mueller if the Democrats re-take the House, can they hire him back?

[kentuck]

27. They might be able to appoint him as an "independent counsel"?

Outside the Special Counsel guidelines of the Justice Dept?

Good question.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

26. Republicans in the House and Senate are pretty much

quite happy keeping Trump as President. They just love it that incompetents are heading up the departments they want gutted. So long as people pay for more attention to the payoffs to porn stars and doormen than to the elimination of regulations that make life worthwhile, they won't even remotely consider impeachment.

And as you've noted, Donald Trump is not smart and he only thinks of today, not tomorrow, and certainly not next week, next month, or next year.