Senate Democrats hatch plan that could leave Donald Trump with little choice but to resign

| 11:47 pm EDT April 27, 2017
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Although some pessimistic Donald Trump haters are certain he’ll remain in office until the bitter end no matter how tough things get for him, his own track record suggests the opposite. Trump has shown a consistent willingness to quit once he concludes he can’t win, having strategically declared bankruptcy six times over the years and walked away from his various business endeavors. And now the Senate Democrats are hatching a plan that could lead Trump to conclude that he has no real choice but to resign.

The plan, on its surface, is simple enough: sue Donald Trump. But the genius is in the details. This isn’t a plan to merely tie up Trump in court with some willy nilly lawsuit. The effort is being crafted by Senator Richard Blumenthal, a former State Attorney General with detailed knowledge of how these things work. The idea is to sue Trump over his financial conflicts of interest in violation of the Emoluments Clause, forcing him to think twice about how far he’s willing to go to remain in office.

The plan is not a done deal, but it’s far enough along that Blumenthal is even arranging how the Senate Democrats can collectively cover the court costs (The Hill). What’s not been stated, but what seems self evident to me, is that this lawsuit could have the effect of forcing Trump to consider resigning. And why is that?

Because the lawsuit would focus on Donald Trump’s financial conflicts, it would open the door for Senate Democrats to try to subpoena his tax returns and financial records. If the judge in the case orders Trump to turn over that evidence, he’ll have to do it. During the election we saw that Trump was willing to risk losing just to avoid forking over his tax returns, because they contain things just that awful. If the Democrats back Trump into a corner where the only way to avoid surrendering his tax returns is to resign so the lawsuit goes away, it just might mean his exit. Contribute to Palmer Report