If Trump loses, I could see the following scenario playing out: 1) He plans a trip to Russia on the pretense of patching up our relations with them. Putin will be breathing fire anyway (he sort of indirectly threatened war prior to the 2016 elections - told expats to come home)
TheValuesVoter
2) A defeated Trump would realize that his legal immunity as President would end on January 20th, 2020. And we’ll probably by then know even more about his behavior in office than we know now. Russia has, or course, no extradition treaty with the US.
3) Trump goes on an official trip to Russia sometime before January 20th. Which would be his right to do. He’s still the President. Nobody can stop him. Nobody can charge him. 4) He makes some excuse about the election being rigged, unfair, etc. And just stays there.
From Trump’s point of view, if he can’t have immunity from prosecution, being outside the reach or the US legal system would be the next best thing. Plus, he’s well liked there (he loves being near people who like him).
[ Or so he thinks. Russians actually despise him, but he doesn't speak Russian and doesn't know. ]
From Putin’s point of view, this would be the ultimate coup for the ultimate spymaster. A big giant middle finger for all the ages to the United States with a little wink wink nod nod “you’ve been had! Signed, Vlad” It’s the kind of thing that would cement his lore forever.
And, even though it would be utterly humiliating to the US, at least we would be spared the drama of a former President being potentially prosecuted or needing to be dragged out of the White House. I know this is a stretch. But if Trump loses, I think this is possible.
On the downside, Trump offers very, very little intelligence value.
[ And in Russia, he could still claim the election was stolen from him by fraud and claim he's the REAL President living in exile after a "coup.". And it would be in Putin's interest to pretend to believe that. He can still be used by Putin to sow division in the US. ] |
