I heard this possibilty today on the radio:

[Stuart G]

..........Trump and his gang will resign in return for pardons by Pence..............

........Thom Hartmann Program...........today 1/18/19 at approx. 2pm ET.

..That William P. Barr is being brought into the administration to engineer a deal to get Trump off of all charges through some kind of resignation plan. That is Trump and his gang resigns, in return for immediate pardons by Pence. Therefore, the gang gets off scot free with no jail time, and Pence becomes the next President of the United States for the remainder of the Trump term. It was noted by Thom that Barr engineered a deal like this before in 1992, which helped those responsible for undermining Carter's reelection in 1980 to be pardoned.
...That this deal is to make sure that Trump and his gang never have to spend a moment in jail and to get a new name into the office: Mr. Pence. Trump's name is so dirtied that many think it is not possible for him to get reelected. Pence has been relatively quiet and could be acceptable to the population and this would give the Republicans "a chance" to win in 2020. Trump is becoming totally toxic to 65 per cent of the population and he will never win. He and the gang resigns in "disgrace" but face no real penalties for their crimes. Actually they will be going "scot free" and "gone" away...

..I have no idea if this could happen or will happen. But it was proposed today on this show. Also, the key for me is that William Barr has been through this before and knows exactly what to do. (see paragraph 1) Will this happen?.. Who knows?...But I hope we will all be around to see the end of this awful show..and in 2020 a new Democratic President of the United States.

[AlexSFCA]

1. frightening

[imanamerican63]

19. Pencelbreathe!

[Jose Garcia]

2. Why would Barr need to be AG to 'engineer' a deal?

[Stuart G]

5. He wouldn't need to be, but it would put him in a more superior position to do so.

...Actually, I really don't know.. Maybe as Attorney General it would look better. Or sound better cause it was ....."an official deal." But this was mentioned and I am passing the idea on. This is an "Anything Can Happen Show."
..I never thought that Trump had even a small, tiny chance to become President of the United States. But there he is, and there is that gang in the White House, totally supported by the Republican Party.....

[Initech]

21. Because they don't know how to engineer deals!

That's the chapter in "The Art Of The Deal" that they don't tell you about - they don't have a fucking clue as to how negotiations really work! Trump has not made one deal in the 2 years he's been president. Not one.

[Poiuyt]

3. Interesting, but I doubt it

I don't see trump giving up and retiring. Just look how hard he's fighting for the wall. He'll do anything to keep him from looking like a loser.

[defacto7]

37. and as we should know Pence can only pardon federal crimes, not state crimes.

That throws wrench in any deal.

[Poiuyt]

38. Good point

[LuckyCharms]

4. Similar to what I thought at this link:

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11670002

[SWBTATTReg]

6. Wonder how pence can pardon if not all charges have been brought up yet. None of us...

truly knows what Mueller and cohorts have identified as possible charges and when they happened. If happened before rump is president, then pardon could perhaps not be effective. If charges are applied to obstruction of justice and the like, will happen (if belief that sitting president can't be indicted) afterwards, when unknown when pence pardons. Also, states such as NY could bring charges too, where pardons don't impact. Looking more and more like a whole slew of crap coming down the pipeline and basically there are too many crimes committed to just pardon away all of them.

And if pardoned, rump administration is toast. Repugs in Congress are toast. American people will finally know the full breadth and scope of the criminal cabal that rump is the tip of.

[Stuart G]

9. I really don't know much more than the proposal.

I don't know anymore than that. Just presenting this as an observation and a possibility. I know nothing of the details. I thought I would present it for discussion. That is it.............

[rusty fender]

11. Ford gave Nixon a pardon that included

all current and future charges. Apparently presidents can do this.

Nixon, however wasn’t facing any state charges, as far as I know. Pence can pardon his sorry ass, but New York State can throw his orange ass in jail.

[SWBTATTReg]

12. Thanks for clarifying. When all is said and done, we're going to have a field day w/ all of the...

conclusions of the multiple investigations as well as Mueller's report(s). I wonder is treason is a pardonable crime?

[rusty fender]

13. Good question!

I think that the president’s pardon power is absolute regarding federal crimes.

[SWBTATTReg]

16. I wondered because treason is considered a 'high crime' vs. other crimes. But I think you may...

be right...lucky for us that NY is there, since rump has lied on his tax returns more than likely.

[Victor_c3]

14. And couldn't a pardon be seen as an admission of guilt?

I wonder how that will play out in the SDNY case

[rusty fender]

17. You may be right

Acceptance of a presidential pardon will have all the consequences spelled out, like admission of guilt, but New York would likely be trying Trumpass on crimes not included by the Feds, probably.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. I don't think that will happen. Sometimes Hartmann gets odd ideas,

and IMO this is one of them. He seems to have forgotten that if Pence promises pardons in exchange for a promise to resign so he can become president, that is also an act of obstruction of justice and the House Dems would be all over his ass; and Pence is probably dirty in other ways, too (consider, for example, that Manafort recommend him as VP and that he was in charge of the transition). He has also forgotten that Ford's pardon of Nixon raised holy hell at the time and clearly cost him the 1976 election - something Ford himself acknowledged.

[eleny]

8. I posted the other day about Barr's involvement in the GHW pardons during Iran Contra

It's likely that Trump's ego would prompt him to pardon everyone that Mueller indicts or has under scrutiny thereby neutering the investigation. Trump then gets away with everything the way GHWB got away with his involvement in Iran Contra. Trump is "victorious", runs in 2020 and with Russian help plus his base he wins again.

I have no doubts about the oligarchs being dead set against destroying our democracy.

[Qutzupalotl]

10. It won't help with the state charges Trump and kids are facing,

but if the Republicans think this will get Trump out of office, they can knock themselves out.

Pence was picked by Manafort to be VP, chaired the corrupt transition team, and hired Flynn knowing he was a foreign agent. I don’t see how he gets out of this unscathed.

[C_U_L8R]

15. It seems using pardons to coverup crimes

is obstruction in itself. Or am I overthinking this.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. Promising a pardon in exchange for agreeing to cover up a crime

is certainly obstruction of justice. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/04/26/counting-on-a-pardon-donald-trumps-allies-shouldnt-hold-their-breath/?utm_term=.ab6571c132e0

[marlakay]

27. How did Ford get away with it then?

He was doing the same thing.

[C_U_L8R]

31. Ford seemed more a cleanup guy

than a co-conspirator

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. It wasn't the same thing. There was no quid pro quo.

Nixon didn't promise Ford anything in exchange for the pardon; Ford wasn't involved in the Watergate crimes in any respect. Nixon did consider granting clemency or pardons to other Watergate participants but never actually did it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/050174-2.htm

[marlakay]

35. I wonder why Ford did it then

If it was for the good of the country, Nixon should have gone to prison as a way of showing to other presidents this could happen to you.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

36. I recall that at the time he just wanted to get the whole mess behind him.

That proved to be a mistake, as Ford found out a couple of years later.

[FakeNoose]

20. Pence is part of Trump's gang, so how can he pardon "the gang?"

He has to go too, hopefully when the others do. Pardoned or not, Trump's going to jail.

[Stuart G]

26. Yes, Pence is part of "the gang"

...And Pence needs to go too
...And Pence will be blue, because he will be in a stew...
.. And Pence will get pale, because he will be in jail.
..And Trump will get frail, cause he went to jail
..And Trump will get meaner, and become a lot leaner.
.....and Pence will go down, he is also a clown..
......and the new President will be,

.......NANCY PELOSI......................................thank you............. ... .... .....

[Apollyonus]

22. Barr has no control over State charges

and in no way would the NY AG sign off on something like that.

[NightWatcher]

23. Hartmann was paid by RT (Russian propaganda).

His job is to divide Dems just enough for trump to win.

Don't listen to him.

[Doremus]

24. I've been saying for months we do not want Pence for president anymore than DT

He's been in politics a long time and, unlike Trump, knows how the system works, how to maneuver and make deals. Combine that ability with his fruit loop beliefs and you've got a recipe for some scary shit far beyond what DT is capable of.

Let the investigations go on and on until the Repuke brand is destroyed for good. 2020 will be ours.

[JuJuYoshida]

25. Trump won't resign, think about his ego

[brachism]

28. Not sure I'd trust anything Thom Hartmann has to say these days...

He and his show profited from the Russian government between 2010 to late 2017. His show was carried on RT (aka Russia Today) during that period. RT is a propaganda outlet funded by the Russian government. Just my 2 cents.

[Stuart G]

29. i trust him, and I think his ideas are OK..That is what I have to say. About Thom today..nt

[solara]

30. There is some talk about a couple of sealed indictments

which very likely have PINO trump's name on them. If that is the case, Pence cannot pardon him or so I've heard. The reason Ford was able to pardon Nixon is because he was an un-indicted co-conspirator. I wish I knew the law.. anyone out there know if this is true?

[OnDoutside]

32. I think Barr is in to save the GOP, not Trump. He is old school Republican and will

prioritize their survival....and they'll hang Trump to do that.

[dawg day]

33. Nixon negotiated this (very likely) with Ford-

He resigned, Ford became president, pardoned Nixon (i don't think anyone else... Nixon, like Trump, didn't care about anyone else.) Nixon hadn't been indicted yet for anything, so it was a "presumptive pardon."

Two years later Ford was defeated in the general election. The pardon was widely considered a major factor.

Ford was a LOT more popular than Pence-- much more likeable and, well, normal.

So that's a relatively good precedent.

And... Nixon's crimes were federal. They were "presidential," that is, he could not have committed them if he hadn't been president.

A president can only pardon for federal crimes... Nixon probably didn't have any state crimes that anyone knew of, or at least no state prosecutor was openly investigating him.

Trump's crimes, some of them at least, are very much more local. New York can get him on state tax evasion very likely, and also probably financial frauds.
So even if Pence pardons him for all federal crimes, he's still likely to be indicted by NY and maybe even Florida.
The money laundering - can that also be a state crime? Certainly if he didn't pay taxes on his profits.
Also, it sure looks like the NY attorney general might be interested in Trump Org and Trump Foundation issues. And finally, there are many crimes that could be handled by the prosecutor in Manhattan.

So he probably won't get off entirely no matter what. Nixon did, but he hadn't crimed in so many differnt jurisdictions.