Since the Us DOJ can’t bring charges against POTUS, then it will have to be a state AG who tries to bring any charges against POTUS. The legal knots generated by such an effort would take an enormous amount of time and effort to untangle. Any tough issue will, like the 2000 election suit, be decided by a majority R Supreme Court.

Without state action, the Rs in the House of Representatives must bring impeachment charges against DJT for
“high crimes and misdemeanors.”  That will NEVER happen. I don’t really care what he does.  These guy’s only commitment is to their own agenda and getting it passed so that the one percent they represent will continue to love them.

Yes, DJT was probably engaged in money-laundering.  His son and others were very likely in direct contact with Russian operatives who promised their assistance in the election.  They may even have engaged in a conspiracy with said agents of a foreign government.

Hate to be horribly cynical, but none of that matters at all. It is, from the perspective of the American voting public simply “inside baseball,” it is DC being the fount of all evil ― a pox on both their houses.

Okay, if the Russian tapes of the alleged Moscow stay appear, then it is a different matter.  That those exist is highly unlikely.  The real Russian connection that keeps Trump in line, as George argues, is probably money laundering for Putin’s allies.

Pence, BTW, has been quite canny.  He supports and pushes DJT’s agenda with the Congress, but he is not a real spokesperson for DJT in the public’s eye.

Will the Rs in the public abandon DJT and let his approval rates sink? Maybe, but it won’t matter.   The congressional Rs heavy-hitters are soaking up all the regulatory roll-back and wait in anxious, salivating anticipation of a 50 percent cut in the corporate tax rate.

We are stuck with this asshat for four years.  If we are lucky, we can take back one house of the US Congress in 2018.  If so, then the damage that DJT, Paul Ryan, and McConnell can do may be limited.

But, President Trump will not be President Nixon, waving good-bye from the door of his copter as he slinks off into the dark pages of history. He may enter those dark pages, but it won’t be as someone who left the office in disgrace. He will “stay the course” and disgrace will be something that will be acknowledged after his exit (and he won’t care).

DJT Jr. and others may be at risk for federal prosecution, but as George notes, it is POTUS who can pardon whomever he wishes for any federal offense.

State offenses are another issue, but one that is pretty much up in the air in terms of legal precedent, to the best of my knowledge.  And, just as in 2000, the decision on such issues will be made by an R SPOTUS.

Whether we like it or not, we are in all likelihood stuck with this asshat until 2020.