In the end, Donald Trump had no one left to do his dirty work for him – and that’s why it’s all over for him now
Bill Palmer | 12:01 pm EDT September 21, 2019
Donald Trump criminally conspired with Russia in plain sight to rig the 2016 election. He committed treason, espionage, conspiracy against the United States – the kinds of crimes that you go to prison for, and never do get out. He got away with it, relatively, speaking, for one reason only: he had the sense to have his henchmen do the dirty work, so it couldn’t be proven that he committed the crimes we all know he committed.
The trouble for Donald Trump this time around is that he has virtually no henchmen left. The likes of Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, and Paul Manafort, who did much of the heavy lifting in his treasonous election-altering conspiracy with the Kremlin, are now convicted felons as a result.
When Trump realized he was going to have to rig the 2020 election in order to have any chance of winning, he tried relying on Rudy Giuliani, who’s so far gone he can’t tie his shoelaces without confessing to a crime in the process. When Rudy predictably failed, Trump made the fateful decision that he’ll spend the rest of his life regretting: he picked up the phone himself and called the president of Ukraine and – in front of witnesses – committed the treasonous act himself.
Donald Trump’s life is now over. His already remote odds of winning in 2020 just dropped into infinitesimally small territory. When he loses the election (if he isn’t ousted before that), he’ll be immediately arrested on state charges in New York. He’ll be denied bail because he’s a flight risk to Moscow. He’ll be convicted on at least some of the financial crimes, and they’ll come with a prison sentence that exceeds his natural lifespan. It’s all over for Trump – and it’s all because this time around he had no henchmen left to commit his treasonous acts for him.
