{"id":324,"date":"2017-07-20T12:18:59","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T12:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=324"},"modified":"2017-08-20T12:28:18","modified_gmt":"2017-08-20T12:28:18","slug":"so-what-could-trump-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2017\/07\/20\/so-what-could-trump-do\/","title":{"rendered":"So What Could Trump Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So What Could Trump Do?<\/p>\n

Last night the President of the United States gave a rambling interview to the New York Times. He made several statements that raised questions about what he intends to do. He voiced displeasure with the actions of Attorney General Jeff Sessions who recused himself from involvement in investigations about the 2016 campaign. Trump said he wouldn\u2019t have appointed him if he known. He also placed a \u201c red line\u201d on the Special Counsel\u2019s investigation, stating that Mueller should not get into the Trump family finances. In addition, he claimed that there are multiple conflicts of interest in the Special Counsel\u2019s office, though he wouldn\u2019t reveal what they were (maybe later, just like the \u201ctapes\u201d of the Comey conversations.)<\/p>\n

This raises the question: what would the President be willing to do to stop the Russia Investigation, what could he do, and most significantly, what would the possible outcomes of those actions be?<\/p>\n

As William Mueller continues his investigation, clearly looking beyond \u201cjust\u201d Russian connections to the Trump campaign, Trump has two paths to remove him and attempt to end his investigation. The first would be to order the removal of Mueller. The President does not have the direct power to fire Mueller, what he can do is order the Attorney General to do it. Since Attorney General Sessions is recused (and here\u2019s the problem Trump has) that power devolves to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (Trump had plenty to say about Rosenstein, the former Baltimore US Attorney, saying that \u201c\u2026there are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Should Rosenstein refuse to fire Mueller, Trump could fire him. That would move the authority to fire Mueller to the down the line in the Department of Justice; first to the Solicitor General, then the Associate Attorney General, and then US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in succession. This would be reminiscent of the \u201cSaturday Night Massacre\u201d of Watergate days, when Nixon ordered the firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, and the top two officers of the Justice Department refused to do it and were fired or resigned.<\/p>\n

There is a second way that the President could end the Mueller investigation. The Special Counsel exists as a series of regulations within the Department of Justice. It is not a \u201claw,\u201d and since the President is ultimately in charge of the Department, he has the authority to alter or abolish those regulations. Therefore, President Trump could simply make the Special Counsel position disappear, thus ending that part of the investigation. While this gets the leaders of the Department out of the middle, it still might result in their resignation, and move the investigation back to the FBI.<\/p>\n

Clearly firing or removing Mueller would be seen by many as the ultimate form of obstruction of justice. The investigation would continue through the FBI, and certainly one would hope that Congress (even Republicans) would take a dim view of that action, just as the Republicans did back in 1973. The Senate and House investigations would continue, and could lead to impeachment.<\/p>\n

The President also has an unlimited power to \u201cpardon\u201d for Federal crimes. Pardoning is forgiving for crimes that may have been committed; once a pardon has been issued to a particular individual, all criminal action against the individual for those matters pardoned is ended. Despite \u201ctweet chains\u201d to the contrary, the ability of the President to pardon includes those who worked and campaigned with him even his family. There is no mechanism to restrict the pardoning power of the President during investigations.<\/p>\n

So it is possible that President Trump could pardon Flynn, Manafort, and his children, for any crimes they may have committed involving Russia and the campaign. The biggest effect of such a pardon would be to remove the leverage that investigators, both Special Counsel and Congressional, have to gain testimony. Reaction to that action would be important, again, as the President depends on the Republicans in Congress to maintain their support. But, if the Congress moved to impeachment, there still is no precedent for \u201cundoing\u201d the pardons issued, and a great deal protecting the President\u2019s power.<\/p>\n

Presidential pardons have two restrictions: the President cannot pardon impeachments, and the President cannot pardon state offenses. So President Trump cannot prevent his own impeachment, and he cannot stop state or local investigations (such as the New York State Attorney General\u2019s investigation into Trump finances.<\/p>\n

Could President Trump pardon himself? It\u2019s never happened. It certainly would be seen as an admission by some of guilt. If that didn\u2019t trigger an impeachment process resulting in the removal of the President, nothing will. But all of that doesn\u2019t mean he couldn\u2019t do it. It certainly would put the country into a Constitutional crisis (if we aren\u2019t in one already.) I would imagine that if President Trump did this, it would be soon followed by his resignation.<\/p>\n

After reviewing the New York Times interview, President Trump presents himself as a man who will \u201cgo down fighting.\u201d As the Special Counsel moves closer to the Trump finances and children, it would not be a surprise if he is fired. Since that only moves the investigations back to the FBI, the Presidential pardons would come next, with the President betting that his power base in the country would prevent the Republicans in Congress from moving towards impeachment. Ultimately it would still be the nation\u2019s decision, with the final decision made in the Congressional elections in 2018.<\/p>\n

New York Times \u2013 Trump Interview<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/07\/19\/us\/politics\/trump-interview-sessions-russia.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news<\/a><\/p>\n

Order of Succession \u2013 Department of Justice<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/the-press-office\/2017\/02\/10\/providing-order-succession-within-department-justice<\/a><\/p>\n

Presidential Pardons<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2009\/01\/25\/AR2009012501774.html<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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