President George W. Bush's former adviser, Alan J. Steinberg, penned an opinion piece in NJ.com detailing his prediction of how President Donald Trump's presidency will end. And it's not by impeachment. Instead, Steinberg believes Trump will bow out of the 2020 election in exchange for not facing criminal charges.
From the OpEd:
The major issue for political pundits regarding 2019 is whether Donald Trump’s presidency will survive the year leading into the 2020 elections. Their focus is on the likelihood as to whether Trump will be impeached by the House of Representatives and then removed by the U.S. Senate.
Trump will not be removed from office by the Constitutional impeachment and removal process.
Instead, the self-professed supreme dealmaker will use his presidency as a bargaining chip with federal and state authorities in 2019, agreeing to leave office in exchange for the relevant authorities not pursuing criminal charges against him, his children or the Trump Organization.
Steinberg goes on to say that the Trump family faces legal woes for various reasons. Specifically, he cites the New York Attorney General's attempt at shutting down the Trump Foundation and the president allegedly instructing Michael Cohen to pay multiple women to keep quiet about their alleged affairs before the 2016 election.
His final prediction for how Trump's presidency will end is rather...interesting, to say the least:
Accordingly, before the end of 2019, Donald Trump will resign from the office of the presidency: He will do this pursuant to a deal with the U.S. Justice Department, the incoming President Mike Pence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the New York Attorney General’s Office, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Here’s my prediction for a possible Trump departure:
Trump resigns, to then be pardoned by Pence. In turn, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the New York State Attorney General will refrain from filing any charges against Trump and his family members and agree that there will be no forfeiture of Trump Organization assets.