by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
The most troubling allegation against Trump at this point is he waiting 24 hours to call the president of Ukraine to do the very thing he was just politically pardoned for by the “bad optics” Mueller’s testimony to Congress.
This is a stunning insight into Trump’s motives and personality. And, as such, the only endgame for any patriot at this point is Trump is immediately removed from office, given due process for his crimes and, if convicted, spends the rest of his life in prison.
The reason for this is simple — from Trump’s point of view if a President Pence grants him a Ford-level type pardon, he’s free to turn around and use the contacts he’s developed as president to do it all again. If Trump is a free man with a twitter feed and a mental rolodex of world leaders (Putin, MBS) he has every reason to again attack our democracy. It won’t be for himself this time, it will be for Don Jr. or Ivanka.
Simply trying Trump at all in a court of law would be an extraordinary precedent to set. It’s not something I propose lightly. The moment you do it, MAGA wills set their sights on Hillary Clinton. But as long as he’s a free man, Trump’s got the means, motive and opportunity to do it all over again for as long as he can.
The issue is, as of right now, it’s debatable if we can get him out of office at all, much less have the political will to try him.
