Donald Trump's reelection: Will 2020 pass the election of the "lock-up"?

And Mueller allowed some Democrats to think of possible prosecution when he stated that, even though he had concluded that he could not charge Trump because of the direction of the Office of Legal Counsel, his investigation was justified as way to "preserve the evidence while the memories are fresh and the documents available". . "

Democratic activists, still upset by "lock-up-up" slogans and repeated calls from the president in pursuit of his 2016 foe, Hillary Clinton, would see in Trump's chances a rich poetic justice .

An intense electoral storm over Trump's legal situation could significantly increase the already huge political stakes for 2020 and electrify the bases of both parties. But it could also fuel the president's repeated statements that there has always been a plot to deceive him as president.

Facts and evidence?

"I think they would not have a choice and that they should, yes, there has to be some responsibility," Harris said, when asked if the ministry of Justice should accuse Trump of obstruction of justice.

As to whether Trump could go to jail, she said, "The facts and evidence will allow the process to proceed where it will take it."

"To the extent that there is a case of obstruction, then yes, the DOJ has to deal with it," said Buttigeig. "I would like any credible allegation of criminal behavior to be the subject of an exhaustive investigation."

Trump did not seem to be disturbed when asked about Harris' comments.

Trump's intervention gave Harris a second bite to the controversy.

Outside of his duties, Trump would not be safe from prosecution since he is the chairman.

Some commentators have suggested that by winning a second term, Trump could rule out the possibility of prosecution in the Cohen case, since the statute of limitations could expire before the end of his duties, in 2025.

Penn's law professor Claire Finkelstein said the Justice Department's position that a sitting president can not be charged is wrong. But this also means that the statute of limitations for alleged cases involving the president would be suspended.

"In other words, the countdown does not work during the period in which the Justice Department believes that a president can not be indicted," she said.

According to this interpretation of the law, prosecutors would have the opportunity to prosecute the president each time he leaves office.

Short-term gain, long-term pain?

In the short term, calls for indictment of Trump could rally Democrats' enthusiasm: it is interesting to note that party presidential candidates have generally been keen to publicly declare the call for impeachment. .

But there is no doubt that the President would seize the opportunity to call the Democratic Campaign 2020 nothing more than an attempt at political persecution.

An election debate on how to deal with Trump could also begin to shape the Capitol Hill debate about impeachment.

Pelosi is aware of the possibility of a violent reaction and the fact that GOP Senators would never vote to have Trump sentenced to impeachment.

But if it sticks to its decision not to open impeachment investigations, all the political pressure exerted on it could be transferred to a new democratic president in 2021.

It's one thing for a Democratic primary candidate to threaten to sue an ex-president. It is another thing for a new president to go forward.

Any new Democratic president in 2021 would be forced to use his first 100 days to honor his ambitious and difficult promises, revolutionize the provision of health care and ease the debt burden of student loans.

It's hard to see how such a legislative leap could be helped by dragging Washington into a new trump drama.

Worth the stomach burn?

A new president should also decide whether the specter of a new commander-in-chief seeking redress against a successor would further poison the political system itself.

A Democratic president whose Justice Department has attacked a defeated GOP predecessor could face similar accusations of using power to punish his political enemies, as Trump and the Attorney General are currently doing William Barr.

This would not be the first time that a new president has to reconcile the demands for legal reprisals made by political supporters against a previous administration and the broader institutional and national responsibilities that accompany their new position.

President Barack Obama, who opposed the Bush administration's war against the interrogation practices of terrorism as a candidate, finally did not order a review of officials who had executed them after striving to reconcile the idealism of his campaign and the hopes of his supporters the practicalities of being commander-in-chief.

Despite all the discussions, another Democratic president could come to the same conclusion about the even more radioactive possibility of suing a previous president.

"If Kamala Harris were to become president, I do not think that she would end up thinking that it's wise to sue President Trump," said Finkelstein, faculty director of the Center's unethical Center for Psychology. ethics and the rule of law.

"She would feel the same as Obama about the Bush administration officials who piloted the torture program." There was simply no percentage for him, as the new president with an agenda – with a long list of things that he wanted to get done, and he would squander political capital. "

The next Democratic White House could also reflect on President Gerald Ford's reason for granting his pardon to Richard Nixon for Watergate.

There is almost no chance that a Democratic president will have the political incentive to forgive Trump. But they could understand Ford's political argument to protect his successor from prosecution.