Sun Dec 9, 2018, 04:33 PM

Does Trump have to win in 2020 to avoid indictment?

If a sitting president can’t be indicted as many pundits say, and if the statute of limitations on charges of campaign finance violations run out in 2022, I would think he’d have to win again to avoid prosecution. If he is impeached and somehow we can find 18 GOP Senators to vote for removal, I guess he could be indicted but Pence would pardon. And if he loses in 2020, the statute of limitations wouldn’t have run out and could be indicted.

Any thoughts?

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12 replies	Author	Time	Post
Does Trump have to win in 2020 to avoid indictment? (Original post)	OrlandoDem2	Dec 2018	OP
Trump won't be on the ballot in 2020 (n/t)	PJMcK	Dec 2018	#1
Really there is no telling the future of it.	safeinOhio	Dec 2018	#2
I agree. People such as Sen. Mark Warner have already said the final report would be explosive.	dameatball	Dec 2018	#4
By hook or crook...	kentuck	Dec 2018	#3
Democrats may attempt to change laws regarding statute of limitations.	Garrett78	Dec 2018	#5
I heard someone on the radio being interview say that the FBI of the 20th century was	elocs	Dec 2018	#6
He will have to resign if he doesn't win or doesn't run.	Sneederbunk	Dec 2018	#7
He will do the same thing in 2020 and SOL may not apply anyway	marylandblue	Dec 2018	#8
I think someone needs to indict him for something just to test this rule.	Vinca	Dec 2018	#9
I think (not positive) it was Dan Abrams on ABC this morning	Jarqui	Dec 2018	#10
Pence or a Pence replacement could give him a blanket pardon,	pnwmom	Dec 2018	#11
Rubin: Trump will resign 10 minutes before next inauguration so Mike Pence can pardon him	Gothmog	Dec 2018	#12

Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 04:36 PM

PJMcK (17,880 posts)

1. Trump won't be on the ballot in 2020 (n/t)

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Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 04:47 PM

safeinOhio (27,367 posts)

2. Really there is no telling the future of it.

However I will predict that, we ain’t seen nutting yet.

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Response to safeinOhio (Reply #2)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 04:55 PM

dameatball (6,682 posts)

4. I agree. People such as Sen. Mark Warner have already said the final report would be explosive.

I don't intend to waste a lot of time worrying about impeachment until the time is right. Nothing wrong with people speculating, but I just don't have enough to go on. All these threads can sort of be a nice civics class though.

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Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 04:50 PM

kentuck (105,266 posts)

3. By hook or crook...

He has to win.

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Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 04:56 PM

Garrett78 (10,721 posts)

5. Democrats may attempt to change laws regarding statute of limitations.

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Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 05:03 PM

elocs (21,628 posts)

6. I heard someone on the radio being interview say that the FBI of the 20th century was

was Hoover's FBI but that the FBI of the 21st century was Mueller's FBI and that it would pursue Trump even when he left office.

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Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 05:14 PM

Sneederbunk (10,808 posts)

7. He will have to resign if he doesn't win or doesn't run.

Must resign during term to get a Nixon/Ford deal, assuming his successor is a Dem.

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Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 05:17 PM

marylandblue (12,344 posts)

8. He will do the same thing in 2020 and SOL may not apply anyway

If there is an unavoidable obstacle to indictment, court may find that the SOL doesn't expire until after the President is out of office.

One way to look at this: There are laws against election fraud to make elections fair. Congress could not have intended that SOL helps a Presidential candidate evade prosecution if and only if the candidate is successful.

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Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 05:20 PM

Vinca (48,247 posts)

9. I think someone needs to indict him for something just to test this rule.

The theory seems to be that a criminal indictment would cause a POTUS to spend too much time on his defense and he wouldn't have time to run the country. If I were the prosecutor I would challenge it in court with the number of days Individual One has spent golfing and how his schedules seem to reflect he spends about 90% of the time watching television.

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Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 05:22 PM

Jarqui (8,147 posts)

10. I think (not positive) it was Dan Abrams on ABC this morning

who said something to the effect that
"it is DoJ policy to not indict and prosecute a sitting president but there is no DoJ policy against indictment and dealing with it after he leaves office"

The basis is that an indictment can distract a sitting president to the potential detriment of the country. But the workaround is to indict under seal to get around that.

I have read in the not-so-mainstream media that this has already happened. Allegedly, there are several sealed federal indictments from Mueller (between a dozen to three dozen).

To pardon proof it, they would need to indict at the state level. I don't know if anyone has been checking there.

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Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 05:28 PM

pnwmom (106,128 posts)

11. Pence or a Pence replacement could give him a blanket pardon,

but that would only apply to Federal crimes.

For all we know, he could be subject to indictment for STATE crimes already. It has never been tested.

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Response to OrlandoDem2 (Original post)

Sun Dec 9, 2018, 05:37 PM

Gothmog (111,506 posts)

12. Rubin: Trump will resign 10 minutes before next inauguration so Mike Pence can pardon him

Link to tweet

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