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Currently, the Trump administration is desperately looking to save themselves instead of going after the Russians who hacked the 2016 election. But, even with Robert Mueller closing in on his administration, the President will likely not resign until he has exhausted every other option. Trump’s previous dealings of controversial issues suggest that he would prefer to be impeached than to resign.  

Robert Mueller’s indictment of 13 Russian nationals last week is one of the biggest developments  in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. This could have been the President’s perfect opportunity to set his administration on that lead, asking them to look into the indictment more closely in an attempt to outdo Mueller. Yet, the President decided to move the spotlight from the Russians to the Obama administration and in the process questioning the current Attorney General of The United States Jefferson Sessions.

Question: If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation? Why didn’t Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren’t Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Sessions!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2018

This is not the first time that Trump has tried to move the conversation away from the Russians. This particular tweet is almost the exact reaction Trump had when the news of Russian hacks first became mainstream. At that time, Trump asked not the administration but the Russians for help to find the Hillary Clinton’s missing emails, in the same way he is asking Sessions why he has not investigated the Obama administration. Trump has been using this tactic of redirecting the focus since his presidential campaign and especially when dealing with Russia, often downplaying their involvement, even to the point of stating that it could have been China who did the hacking.

‘We are all familiar with the ways in which Donald Trump’s demagogic assault on the press has already normalized presidential mendacity, mainstreamed “alternative facts,” and desensitized millions of Americans to both,’ said Bret Stephens in The New York Times.

And this is exactly what Trump will do if he gets impeached. He will claim that his impeachment is all due to corruption in the government, a plan against him because people cannot stand that he, who is for the people, won the election. He will go on to state that he fixed the economy, solved many of the issues that were wrong with government and left a well-crafted plan with step by step instructions for the next government to follow and that the only way the country will fail is if the next administration does not follow his plan and “screw up” everything that he has already “fixed”.

“The indictment of the Internet Research Agency comes on top of two Trump advisers having pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI — Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos — and two more being indicted on charges of alleged financial crimes that predated the campaign — Paul Manafort and Rick Gates,” said Aaron Blake in The Washington Post.

But even as the facts and evidence start to pile up against him, Trump will not resign because he has too much to lose. A resignation from Trump will be an equivalent to him accepting that he has wronged the country and its people. The damage to his image would be almost irreparable and his image is the branding of his corporation. Being that his name is attached to almost all of his businesses, this will force his business partners to look elsewhere in order to save themselves, leaving him in a situation he does not want to find himself in. That is why he will look for a scapegoat or an opportunity to try to cut a deal with Mueller to let him finish his presidency and save his businesses in exchange for information that could be beneficial to interested parties in government.

Rick Gates is a longtime political consultant who served as Trump’s deputy campaign chairman. His plea deal could be important for the investigation because it is a sign that Gates has incriminating information on Paul Manafort and other members of the Trump campaign. Gates would be trading incriminating information in exchange for a lighter punishment. He faces up to nearly six year in prison according to The New York Times.  

Whichever way it turns out, the damage has been done. This is corruption and politics at its best because there are members of the government involved and the law cannot treat them like a regular civilian. The deals being dealt will probably not be fully disclosed to the public, which leaves them with a certain level of distrust for politics. However, there is a change in politics that needs to come with a case this big and hopefully there is a new level of awareness for the public to stay vigilant of this type of corruption.

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