So, if impeachment IS a coup as Republicans say it is, well, then the primary suspect behind this illegal power grab wouldn’t be Nancy Pelosi or Adam Schiff or Hillary Clinton.
No. It would be the guy who ends up in power. That’s how coups work.
You want to call it a coup? Maybe wonder where the fuck Mike Pence has gotten to lately.
Stonekettle Station
Because Pence is implicated in Trump’s crimes, he can’t serve either. I’ve heard that scenario run down on Today, Explained, The Nine Impeachment Scenarios
Here is a portion of the relevant transcript.
He [Pence] actually had a conversation with the Ukrainian president where he talked about foreign aid that had been suspended by the U.S. to Ukraine and he talked about corruption and he sort of kind of had this conversation where he said we’ll get you the money back if you do this for us. So in some ways he is even more explicitly involved in a quid pro quo with Ukraine than even the call notes of Donald Trump’s call with the president of Ukraine show. So he’s tied up in this. He is not he is not outside of this scandal, but really in the center of it.
Today Explained episode transcript (Google doc)
I talked about that episode of the podcast in this article a few weeks back. You remember, right? Feels like a year ago already.
…However there is no way the election can be overturned as Trump and his devout group of spinsters bloviate about. Hillary will never be president. What may happen may look like a coup, and can be cast as a coup by Stormtrumpers. But if it is legal then it isn’t a coup. Isn’t that what they said about Trump being president instead of Hillary? That’s what the law says, are you going to argue with the law?
TLDR? Laura McGann lands on President Mnuchin as the next unsullied, unquestionable personage in the line of succession capable of holding the office. If you want to know Why not President Pelosi? go listen to that episode.
About as unlikely as Trump “winning” the Presidency.
I think it is highly likely that the legislature will ultimately come to the conclusion that someone will have to be appointed to hold the office of president temporarily until the 2020 elections are completed. Your guess is as good as mine as to who the two sides can agree on. Mnuchin might be able to serve in that capacity. He seems capable of tying his shoes without commiting a crime, even if he and his wife are clueless about flaunting their obscene wealth.
But Pence will be rejected and attacked by the Democrats if he is offered as the natural presidential presumptive after Trump. He’s tainted, and everyone should know this by now. The Republicans will not accept Pelosi as president, either. If they are smart (and I have little doubt that Pelosi is smart enough to see all this) they will select someone stable enough to get us through to the next handoff of power. If they aren’t, we’ll see the bloodbath that I’ve been afraid of happening ever since Trump rode the golden escalator and pronounced that all Mexicans were rapists.
Why the Republicans didn’t press to have Trump investigated by the FBI when he announced his candidacy is the real question now. His criminality was on display long before that time (Caveat Emptor) They can and should be held accountable for all the damages that have been caused since Carter left office. The country hasn’t been normal for at least that long. Republicans have followed the chimera of the religious right and evangelical faith to ruin now. They have no one to blame but themselves for this.
