Politico reports on the inner machinations of the Democrats:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi told senior Democrats that she’d like to see President Donald Trump “in prison” as she clashed with House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler in a meeting on Tuesday night over whether to launch impeachment proceedings.
Pelosi met with Nadler (D-N.Y.) and several other top Democrats who are aggressively pursuing investigations against the president, according to multiple sources. Nadler and other committee leaders have been embroiled in a behind-the-scenes turf battle for weeks over ownership of the Democrats’ sprawling investigation into Trump.
Steve Benen wonders if Pelosi wants to take what appears to be a more secure route to punishing President Trump:
But it’s possible there was a little more to this. What if Pelosi was pointing to an alternative approach to presidential accountability?
As we’ve discussed, Trump has been implicated in a variety of alleged crimes, though as far as the Justice Department is concerned, Trump is shielded from prosecution so long as he’s in office. If he were to lose in 2020, however, that shield would disappear, and the prospect of an indictment would become quite real.
Indeed, by most accounts, the only way for Trump to ensure he faces no criminal liability is for him to remain president for another four years, effectively running out the clock on the statute of limitations.
If Pelosi said, “I want to see him in prison,” she may have been doing more than just expressing contempt for the Republican in the Oval Office. She may have also been signaling a way to hold Trump responsible for his alleged crimes in a way that would be more severe than impeachment.
Unfortunately for Benen, Trump could take the Nixon approach: resign and his successor simply pardons him for all federal crimes he may have committed.
It’s not a perfect solution, of course, as state indictments are still viable – no pro-active pardon will apparently stand for State violations. But it would remove at least some of the punishment that might be coming Trump’s way.
And Pence might get one day of being President.
