A former GOP member of Congress has predicted that Donald Trump will leave the White House “soon” in a “spectacular political crash-and-burn” set to take place during 2019.
John LeBoutillier, who was a Republican representative in New York City back in the 1980’s, made his prediction in a column for The Hill.
LeBoutillier wrote in his op-ed piece:
“Donald J. Trump’s presidency will not survive 2019. The downward trajectory of every aspect of his tenure indicates we are headed for a spectacular political crash-and-burn — and fairly soon.”
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“His increasingly erratic and angry behavior, his self-imposed isolation, his inability and refusal to listen to smart advisers that he hired, all are leading him to a precipice.”
There are many threats to Trump’s chaotic and troubled presidency. Perhaps the most significant is the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. But he facing many other lawsuits and investigations also.
Just two weeks ago we reported that “Donald Trump and his close associates are currently under at least 17 investigations for potential criminal wrongdoing.”
Federal and state investigators are probing the Trump campaign, the Trump transition, the Trump inauguration committee, the Trump Foundation and all of Trump’s businesses.
Not only that, but very soon the Democrats in charge of major committees in the U.S. House of Representatives will be launching their own investigations. They may begin publicly televised hearings, sure to capture a national audience.
There seems to be plenty of evidence against Trump, including evidence that his campaign violated many laws and colluded with agents of the Russian state to influence the 2016 election.
In addition, many of Trump’s advisers, associates and allies are also in the crosshairs of Mueller’s investigation. And most of them have been cooperating with prosecutors who are making the case against Trump, and who may soon bring more criminal charges.
Former campaign chairman Paul Manafort may spend the rest of his life in jail after his conviction for fraud and admitting to acting as the unregistered agent of a foreign government, Ukraine’s corrupt Russian-backed regime.
Former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced by a judge to three years in prison for fraud and campaign finance violations relating to hush payments made to two women accusing the president of extramarital affairs.
Trump ally Roger Stone is facing scrutiny for his relationship with WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange, whose organization published emails stolen from the DNC by Russian hackers.
As a result of all of this LeBoutillier predicts the following:
“The Mueller investigation will unveil evidence of Trump putting himself out to the highest bidder in return for campaign help and financing: Russians, Saudis, Emiratis, Qataris — there will be evidence that millions of foreign dollars illegally flowed into the Trump campaign coffers in 2016.”
“In other words, Trump basically said, ‘I’m for sale.'”
With turbulence in Washington because of the Trump shutdown, and turbulence in the economy and the stock markets because of Trump tariffs and other factors, many Trump supporters are getting fed up.
In 2019 it is very likely that the people who have been standing beside Trump and protecting him will find that it is no longer in their political best interests to keep doing this. The financial backers of the Republican Party — who have supported GOP members of the U.S. Senate — are probably going to conclude that supporting Trump has more downsides than upsides.
And when these people decide that it is time to cut and run from Donald Trump, it will be the end of the Trump presidency.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
