I've figured out when Donald J. Trump will resign.

[MineralMan]

He will do so after he loses the election next November. It's perfect. He will resign and Pence will issue a blanket pardon for all acts done while he was President. For Trump, it's ideal, because it gives him almost another year to throw a monkey wrench into the works of our government. He will have nothing to lose, and can take his reward from Vladimir Putin and live out the rest of his life without fear of prosecution.

Then, the long, tedious job of undoing all the harm Trump has caused will begin, and it will be a very difficult job for our next President, indeed.

Yup, I think that's what Trump has in mind. I expect him to act even more recklessly during the next 11 months, leading up to that resignation and pardon.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. You might well be right.

Was looking at the April-May time line myself. The key to watch is,Pardons issued to his Criminal Buddies.

[MineralMan]

4. I think he will wait until after the November election.

His reasoning will be, "Well, I might win and get another term."

Then, shortly after the election demonstrates that not to be true, he can arrange for the pardon with Pence and resign shortly before our new President is inaugurated, leaving no time for any actions that might get in the way of his pardon.

Pence will not be impeached by this Congress. The House has one impeachment and that one is happening right now. If Trump is not removed, which is almost certain, the House will not engage in another one, because of the upcoming election.

Trump's resignation at the end of his term of office would solve all of his problems, and the pardon would solve his future problems. He will have his reward for service to Russia coming, he thinks, although that might just not be the case. Putin might have a different idea of how to treat Trump.

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Vlad is driving the Trump Bus

no doubt about it. As one pundit said yesterday,the GOP has to be totally wiped out for any possible change to happen.

[Girard442]

11. When Trump stops being an asset to Putin he becomes a liability.

How do you suppose that would work out?

[MineralMan]

12. See, I'm not sure that Trump realizes that, you see.

Trump is very gullible when it comes to Vladimir Putin. Personally, I don't really care what happens to Trump once he is out of the White House. Not one bit. Nope.

[gopiscrap]

20. except for the New York State crimes he committed

[BlueTsunami2018]

2. If he loses. If.

Don’t put it past this country to be as stupid as possible and don’t put it past the GOP to cheat as hard as possible. This isn’t in the bag by any means. They will have had four years to perfect the methods they’ve already used and to develop new ones.

[MineralMan]

7. We can help with all that, you know.

That's our job as Democrats, don't you think?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. But what if Pence is found to be tangled up in Trump's mess,

which seems pretty likely? Vice-Presidents can be indicted while in office.

Fasten your seat belts; it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

[MineralMan]

5. That's why a resignation would not happen until the end of 2020.

There would not be enough time to deal with Pence before he issued the pardon for Trump. And it would be unlikely that the effort would be expended after the Inauguration. Too much to do.

Basically, history would write off Trump's presidency as a bad one and we'd move on.

That's my guess about how things would go if my prediction is correct.

[sacto95834]

22. Say this all comes to pass...

What's in it for Pence? He gets to be a lame duck president for say 2 months? The election is over until 2024. What's he supposed to do now?

I'm sure he realizes that pardoning Trump would pretty much end his national career; remember Ford? Pence might be able to get re-elected in Indiana, but I think national office would be out of the question if he issues a pardon. Trump resigning "forces" him to assume the presidency which may help him in a possible future run if he isn't already tarnished.

[MineralMan]

25. Perhaps a sizable sum of money might change hands after the inauguration.

That might be reward enough for Pence. A few million for his retirement fund. I'm afraid the Dominionists would have to wait a bit again, if my scenario plays out.

[sacto95834]

32. Yep...

You're probably right. I looked up Pence and he's poor by Washington standards; hell poor by coast standards. Apparently he is too dumb or too righteous to enrich himself through his governmental positions. I absolutely despise Pence, but admire his ethic, unlike most government officials.

According to Forbes he owns no property and his investment portfolio is modest. His "big" asset will come from his government pensions. A normal person would do very well on that, but he could never live in San Francisco or New York City and I suspect neither DC on his anticipated pension. Naturally after he retires he can get on the speaking circuit, serve on Boards perhaps write a book and make a mint.

So perhaps getting some cash (say a few million for pardoning Trump) would help him in his retirement years.

[MineralMan]

33. Exactly. Pence is a "Yes man."

Why the Dominionists put him up for the VP job, I'm not sure. I don't think he's capable of the presidency, really. I think he's a placeholder for something. His position as VP helped get Trump to appoint some other Dominionists to high positions, though. DeVos, and several others are in that category.

Fortunately, the Dominionists are going to lose this round in their quest for power, I think. If we elect a Democrat as President, which I believe we will, and handily, all of those appointees are going to be looking for work again. The Dominionist movement will just have to wait for another opportunity at the Federal level. But, they have several red states tied up in their plan to take over government.

[rsdsharp]

6. Pence can't pardon him for state crimes.

New York will be waiting with open handcuffs.

[Johonny]

9. But he'll be in Russia retired by then.

[marlakay]

14. No use to Russia anymore

They could call their loans on him.

[Johonny]

18. Oh, he'd still be a use

Imagine the weekly FOX news segments with former exiled Donald Trump... Like Snowden he'd still be great use.

[MineralMan]

10. Perhaps. Or, perhaps Trump will simply leave the country immediately

upon resigning. He has other places he can go, surely.

[Johonny]

17. Russian state TV already is joking

He'll be living next to the disposed former leaders of the Ukraine in the suburbs of Moscow. It's sort of funny, sort of truthy...

[MineralMan]

19. Yes. Russia has places ready for deposed leaders.

Perhaps Trump has his name on one of them somewhere...

[Layzeebeaver]

34. This is why...

...he has been pushing for trump tower Moscow!

[MineralMan]

35. Well, probably not, really.

He'll be dead before that gets built, if it ever does. But Putin will be glad to put him up in nice digs somewhere in Russia, if necessary. If I were Trump, though, I'd try to find something better (and safer). Otherwise he might have "serious health issues" if he annoys Putin too much. Nobody should trust Putin. Nobody.

[Layzeebeaver]

36. True

But I also consider the possibility that trump would not apply the same sensible logic. He probably still considers himself immortal (being a psychopath).

But I’m with you, let’s riff on the “he’s dead in 5 years” theme. It just might get me through to tomorrow each night!

EDIT: FYI, I feel honoured to have received a reply from you!

[MineralMan]

37. OK. Well, Trump is not a robustly healthy man.

He is also in his 70s, and is a man "of full habit," as the saying goes. Ref: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/full%20habit

He appears to have some memory deficits, and recently made an unexpected trip to the hospital, accompanied by the White House Physician.

I don't think he is well. His labored breathing, poor color, and uneasy gait make him look like a candidate for a serious cardiovascular event or a stroke of some kind. I wouldn't write him a life insurance policy, in any case.

[sacto95834]

24. Where would he go?

I think most Western Democracies hate him for than the US. Russia? Seriously? What good would he be to Putin outside of the White House? I suppose he could try somewhere in the Middle East - the Saudis seem to like him, but again if he's not in power what good is he? Dubai? Maybe.

[MineralMan]

27. It doesn't matter, really. Russia might be OK with warehousing him

until he dies. He has served his purpose, and certainly couldn't talk from his digs in Russia. His silence would have considerable value, I think, to Putin and some others. He's an old man, too, so perhaps the warehousing wouldn't last all that long. I don't know the details, frankly, nor do I care much about them.

[Eliot Rosewater]

13. I would give anything for this outcome since I think he and putin have very bad

days planned for us ahead.

I will hope for this outcome while I prepare for the other, which I hope all are doing. Be prepared for power grids all over the country to go down on election day so the internet is down and so counting cant be done and the INTEGRITY of the election will therefore be brought into question by the traitor and thus he will say we need about a year to prepare for a new election.

ETC


I will pay money now to be wrong, I want to be wrong.

[Gothmog]

15. This why trump can not replace Pence with Nicki Haley on the ticket

There are good arguments why a POTUS cannot pardon himself and so the best way to avoid litigation is to resign before Jan. 20, 2021 and get Pence to pardon him. This also means that trump cannot replace Pence on the ticket with Nicki Haley in that Pence would not be as likely to pardon trump after being casted aside

[MineralMan]

16. Good thinking.

Also, Pence is the Dominionist in Chief right now. That's why he was selected as VP. There is more than one game underway at the same time. There are Dominionists all over the place in DC, and in high positions. Their plan is to gain control of federal government at some point and turn their doctrines into laws. Pense is quietly biding his time as VP, waiting for an opportunity that may or may not come. Trump is merely a placeholder and a disruptor from that perspective.

Which brings up another subject, but it's one that sounds way too much like a conspiracy theory for me to post. It's still at the back of my mind, though, as a distant possibility in a similar time-frame. I think it's unlikely that an attempt will be made to shortcut the process that the Dominionists have in mind, but I suppose it's possible as a far-fetched fluke of a plan.

[maryellen99]

21. You can't be pardoned if you are impeached nt

[onenote]

23. The consequences of an impeachment can't be pardoned

But any criminal actions taken by someone who is impeached, whether they were the basis of the impeachment or not, can be pardoned .

[MineralMan]

29. Actually, if the Senate does not vote to convict and remove him,

he goes free, you see. The impeachment would not lead to a conviction. A President cannot pardon someone who was impeached. that is correct. But the trial in the Senate deals with an impeachment. If there is no conviction, then it's like a not guilty verdict in court. That can't be overturned, either.

Anyhow, none of that has ever been tested legally. So, i'm really speculating there, but that's my opinion of how that would work.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

26. Pence is going to need a pardon, too. Can Trump pardon Pence before he (Trump) resigns?

Technically, I guess he can but I wonder if there's any downside? I'm happy to say I have a hard time thinking like a criminal.

[MineralMan]

28. I'm not really sure Pence needs a pardon.

He's really a minor player, and it would be largely a waste of time to go after him after the fact, I think.

Traditionally, we let sleeping dogs lie here, once they are no longer in a position of power.

[Volaris]

30. Except after this week, he will NOT be pardonable for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress.

The first is intentionally broad, the second is intentionally narrow.

Even if the current Senate acquits him, the next AG can prosecute the shit out of him for anything resembling a crime derivative of those 2 offenses (money laundering, anyone?)

This is in addition to whatever state charges he will he facing.

He can resign all he wants. He can take all the pardons he wants, and hes still going to have to testify as a result. Which means if hes stupid enough to stay in the united states, he will be staying as a guest of one penitentiary system or another.

[MineralMan]

31. I doubt he will be available to testify, actually.

He will be elsewhere, no doubt. He has properties in many places, and will probably be welcomed in Russia, as long as he keeps his silence, more or less. How much money he has, I do not know, but it is probably adequate for his needs, and he has property that can be sold. I doubt we would hear from him much, really. I'd guess he'll be dead within five years anyhow, given his current state.

[AncientGeezer]

38. They aren't charged crimes...doesn't need a Pardon.

"He can take all the pardons he wants, and hes still going to have to testify as a result." NO he won't..he'll "Court" the hell out of it...hell I would

[lame54]

39. state crimes

[Cornus]

40. More clarification

by Robert Reich here: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-impeached-house-literally-unpardonable-1475096?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR1TzeoYLE0WODZbLc-zvq0KBEf9OzwnDed-xMAZPt7FwNRFUl2RoWDXyZM