The one state election in 2017 that can help land Donald Trump in prison

| 10:27 pm EDT July 22, 2017
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The 2018 midterms are set to decide which party holds control of Congress, and therefore the odds of Donald Trump being impeached and removed. But a full year sooner, there is a smaller set of elections set for November of 2017 in various states. All of the 2017 races are vital in determining momentum. But one of the 2017 races in particular will go a long way to determining whether or not Donald Trump ends up in prison.

The worst kept secret in all of politics is that New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been building a criminal case against Donald Trump involving numerous financial crimes committed within the state’s jurisdiction. New York may have to wait until Trump is out of office before being able to put him on trial, but Schneiderman is up for reelection in 2018 and has a strong chance of winning (the NY AG runs for reelection independent of the Governor). So at whatever point Trump is ousted, New York and Schneiderman will try imprison him. But the 2017 election isn’t about New York. It’s about New Jersey.

The Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City was busted for money laundering by the U.S. Treasury department in early 2015 to the tune of a $10 million civil fine. The fine was for violations going back several years, including back when Donald Trump still had a sizable ownership stake in the Taj Mahal. Palmer Report first reported on this civil action in April (link), and the press release is on the Treasury’s FinCEN website (link). The Senate is now investigating Trump’s role in the matter. Yet the State of New Jersey has failed to properly pursue Trump’s apparent financial crimes in Atlantic City, and for one obvious reason: its Governor is Trump’s friend Chris Christie, and its Attorney General was appointed by Christie. But that’s about to change.

New Jersey is one of the very few states that holds its race for Governor on an odd-year schedule. Christie is term-limited and will be replaced by a new Republican or a Democrat in November of 2017. If the Democratic candidate wins that race, a Democratic Attorney General will then be appointed who may then finally take up the slack by investigating Trump’s past financial crimes at his Atlantic City casino.

Even if Donald Trump finds a way to pardon himself on federal crimes, the president cannot pardon anyone on state level crimes. If the Democrats win the 2107 race for Governor in New Jersey, it may help ensure that Trump ends up in prison after he’s ousted from office. If he’s facing criminal trials in both New York and New Jersey, the odds will be further against him. The 2017 Democratic candidate for Governor in New Jersey is Phil Murphy.