Democrats seeking the 2020 presidential nomination should make clear whether they would support President Trump’s prosecution should he not be reelected.
In his statement on Wednesday, Robert Mueller made clear that he didn’t reach a traditional judgment on whether Trump should be charged with obstruction of justice, because of Department of Justice policy against indicting a sitting president. For sitting presidents, he said, the “Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.” That would of course be impeachment.
Even if Democrats were to pursue impeachment, however, which they have been thus far resisting, they would not actually have anywhere near the number of required votes to remove him from office given that Republicans control the Senate.
So that leaves the question of what would happen were Trump to lose his reelection bid. Once he’s no longer a sitting president, the Department of Justice policy would no longer apply as he’d have no duties to perform that would be inhibited by any prosecution.
In fact, in arguing that a sitting president could be investigated, Mueller said it is important, “because it is important to preserve evidence while memories are fresh and documents available.”
That would clearly mean that the next president, who will appoint a new attorney general, would be in the position of deciding whether to go after Trump.
Given that this is a very open question, Democrats running in 2020 should be asked to clarify their position on the matter. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., seemingly indicated she would support the prosecution of Trump, though her statements could have been clearer.
The answer about how to handle a defeated Trump is significant both for voters who believe Trump should be punished for his actions as president and for those who may not like Trump but who would prefer to move on were he out of office rather than pursue years of contentious legal proceedings against an ex-president.
