The Indictment

There are two schools of thought about whether a sitting U.S. President can be indicted: some legal scholars say yes while others say no. Then again, a sitting President can be indicted under seal until he or she leaves office, thus meaning the former head of state would then be prosecuted like an ordinary citizen.

At the Washington Post, their conservative Republican columnist -- who is also a lawyer -- has an interesting idea in her piece yesterday (link here): irrespective of whether the President is indicted, nothing prevents his company from being indicted. Nor any of his children for that matter.

If Robert Mueller or any of the U.S. attorneys currently prosecuting Trump associates were to indict Trump's company, that would send a clear message to the American public that the President may be a criminal, because Trump was the CEO of his company at the time the alleged crimes occurred.

This would be a shock to the system if it happened. How would Republicans react? Some would stand by Trump but others might try to distance themselves.

For his part, Trump would probably have another public meltdown if this happened, particularly if members of his own family -- specifically Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner -- were indicted. That might rally his supporters but also turn more of the non-supporting public against him.

There's no Justice Department rule about indicting people before Christmas, but one might imagine that indictments, if they're coming, will be unsealed and served in January. That would be a politically astute thing for Mueller and the various federal prosecutors to do.

Time will tell. Either way, 2019 is bound to be very interesting. Stay tuned.