There IS a way for Hillary to be President!

[dixiegrrrrl]

"Not sure why Clinton isn't running for a House seat.
Dems could elect her Speaker. Then .....it's Mueller time."

Link to tweet

sez Richard Painter, Prof. of law at the University of MN, was chief White House ethics lawyer for Pres. George W. Bush from '05 to '07. Currently serves as vice chairman of CREW

In fact, the Speaker does not even have to be a member of the House:

Under the Constitution, the speaker does not have to be a member of the House. He or she doesn’t have to be an elected lawmaker or government official. The speaker can be an ordinary, private citizen.

In fact, there really are not any legal restrictions on qualifications for that office. The relevant words are from the Constitution’s Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5: “The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker and other Officers."

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Decoder/2015/0925/John-Boehner-exit-Anyone-can-run-for-House-speaker-even-you

[guillaumeb]

1. That would require that the GOP lose the House in 2018.

And that HRC would be selected.

[shanny]

30. AND for the Dems to win 2/3 of the Senate

since for impeachment, BLOTUS and Veep also have to be convicted in the Senate.

Pigs will fly first.

[Me.]

2. Too Much Ambition In The House

to make this scenario right

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Pelosi comes to mind.... n/t

[Mike Nelson]

3. Yes...

...win in 2018 and have Hillary finish Trump's term - it was her win, anyway! ...and wouldn't that irritate Crooked Donald!

[The Wielding Truth]

4. What??? We have to win the house majority though, right?

[radical noodle]

5. Yes, we would

Richard Painter obviously thinks that could happen.

[Va Lefty]

6. OMFG

[onenote]

7. How many times is this silly idea going to be trotted out?

Clinton doesn't want it. The House Democratic caucus almost certainly doesn't want it. And even if it happened, there is no realistic scenario whereby she becomes president.

Give it a rest already.

[pnwmom]

18. Richard Painter is aware that the Speaker of the House is #3 in the order of succession, behind only

VP Pence.

And he's also aware that Pence may be in deep doo doo.

So he's aware that there IS a realistic scenario for her becoming President.

[onenote]

19. No, he's aware there is not a realistic scenario

Unless he's totally divorced from reality.

Trump and Pence cannot be forced from office except via impeachment and conviction. The Republicans control that process, even if the Democrats take a majority in the House and Senate because it takes 67 votes to impeach. Anyone who believes that the Republicans would allow the impeachment process to move forward simultaneously against both Trump and Pence, or even that the Democrats would name Hillary as speaker, is living in a fantasy world.

[pnwmom]

38. In 2020 the R's might not be controlling the House any longer. I don't think anyone

thinks there's much of a chance of impeachment before then, which takes a majority vote in the House.

CONVICTION takes a 2/3 vote in the Senate. The likelihood of that would depend on the facts developed in impeachment hearings in the House. With those hearings run by Democrats, it is possible -- all depending on the facts.

[onenote]

39. what would be the point of an impeachment proceeding AFTER the 2020 elections?

Even if the Democrats obtain a majority in the House and Senate in 2018, we won't have 2/3 of the Senate and it is pure fantasy to think republicans would participate in a scheme to install a Democrat as president.

[pnwmom]

42. I meant 2018, but the same principle applies. I obviously think the facts will be far more damning

than you think. Enough even to shame and embarrass enough Republican Senators.

[onenote]

44. I don't care what the fact show. The republicans will not agree to a strategy that puts a Democrat

in the White House. It's pure fantasy to think otherwise.

You seem to think that there will be unanimous support throughout the nation for impeachment. But that will never, ever happen. The same 30 plus percent of the country that supports Trump will conclude that anything Mueller finds is a lie and continue to support him. And the chances of establishment republicans turning on Pence is even smaller.

[pnwmom]

45. Again, you don't think there will be the equivalent of dead bodies. I do. n/t

[onenote]

47. Dead bodies? Really?

I hope that's overindulgence from Thanksgiving talking.

[pnwmom]

48. I said "the equivalent" and I meant it with only slight exaggeration.

His crimes will be so heinous that enough R's will disavow him.

[onenote]

49. Nonsense.

They simply won't believe it. These are the people who hate the Clintons and Obama so much that they still think Bill and Hillary killed Vince Foster and that Obama is a Kenyan muslim.

[pnwmom]

50. Enough ordinary Americans will believe it that the R's will fear for their re-election chances.

They will fear looking like fools when DT gets convicted of multiple felonies after he's out of office, if -- through impeachment hearings -- the facts came out while he was President and they failed to convict.

They won't want to be the party that openly aided and abetted a felon.

[onenote]

51. The Republicans fear their base more than ordinary republicans

They fear being primaries in their gerrymandered safe house districts. Senators figure that they won't gain as many republicans votes as they'll lose and won't pick up Democratic voters.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Technically that would work, except

(a) she's said she'll never run for public office again, and
(b) the Dems would have to get control of the House, and
(c) it's doubtful that current House members who are interested in that position would be willing to step aside.

[onenote]

13. and for her to become president, several other highly unlikely events:

Simultaneous Impeachment and conviction (or resignation) of Trump and Pence, which could only occur if the repubs allowed it to happen and there isn't snowball's chance in hell of that happening.

[brooklynite]

9. No, still isn't a way.

If Trump leaves office, Pence becomes President and then names a new VP. The odds on both of them leaving at the same time are miniscule.

Besides, has it occurred to anyone that Hillary Clinton doesn't WANT to be a House member (and there's already a Democrat in her district)?

[lagomorph777]

41. Pence is probably as vulnerable as Trump under Mueller's microscope.

The hard part of course is taking a majority in the House, and 2/3 in the Senate. The latter seems pretty well out of the question in 2018.

[unblock]

10. Wrong wrong wrong!

Yes hillary could be made speaker as a non-member, but republicans will *never* agree to remove Donnie and pence *simultaneously*.

A new republican would be nominated and confirmed veep in between, as Gerald ford was.

[madville]

11. Democrats are currently trying to distance themselves from the Clintons

Very few want them back in the mix. Hillary should enjoy retirement and let the next generation develop their own set of leaders.

[lapucelle]

32. Do you have a source for that assertion?

Both Clintons appeared in NJ to campaign for the Democratic nominee for governor last month.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/10/and_now_bill_clinton_will_visit_nj_to_back_murphy.html

[Ace Rothstein]

12. Please stop.

[Takket]

15. this not very well thought out idea forgets that............

we have to win the house, to impeach, AND hold 2/3rds of the Senate to simultaneously convict Pence and Trump.

Senate is currently 52R-48D

If we somehow win alabama, it is 51R-49D

Rs have 8 seats up next year. If Ds sweep all 8, it is 57D-43R

Still not a 2/3 majority to convict.

This scenario is mathematically impossible.

Rs might convict if the evidence is overwhelming but NOT is the Ds make Hillary speaker. Such a foolish maneuver would essentially guarantee Drumpf finishes out a 4 year term.

[onenote]

21. +1

The delusion of some people on this thread is disheartening.

[jmowreader]

16. There is a way to get a Democrat in the White House before 1/20/21, but not necessarily HRC

The Order of Succession outlined in the Constitution really only works if multiple people die at the same time. But there is a way to go deep in the Order without having to shoot anyone.

Step 1 is to take back both houses of Congress and install a good Democrat as Speaker. I know Nancy Pelosi was Speaker and is the current Minority Leader, but I want Jackie Speier. The lady is hard core, man; she was Rep. Leo Ryan's aide on his fact-finding mission to the People's Temple in Guyana, and was shot five times by Jim Jones' security detail and left for dead at the airport. When you're walking around with scars from five bullet holes in you, anything the GOP can do is a trifle.

Step 2 is to impeach and remove Pence. Not Trump. Pence. The reason is very obvious...

Step 3 requires the Senate. A president can pick his or her own running mate before the election, but a replacement VP is handled like any other appointment: it requires the approval of the Senate. We simply don't give Trump the approval.

Step 4 is to impeach and remove Trump. Because there is no vice president, the speaker will become president - and the speaker is someone we like.

[onenote]

20. In what universe would the Republicans allow this scenario?

Answer: None.

[jmowreader]

34. Up that to one

Remember my Rule of Loyalties:

A politician is loyal to

His seat
His largest donors
His party
His constituents
His nation

IN THAT ORDER.

There are three more years before the next election. If in that time Trump is either proven to have taken office by the hand of America’s Worst Enemy, or he does something so outrageous his entire family would have been guillotined for it in France, the voters are going to give our congress-members an ultimatum: him, or you.

[onenote]

36. Even so, they would work the timing so that they controlled who was his successor

Why? Because his donors and his party would insist

[Yupster]

46. Easiest way to get a Democratic President in 2018 is to get

Trump to switch parties.

I've always thought that a possibility, but why would we want him? I don't think he has any political moorings other than what he thionk will work today.

[melman]

17. What more proof could anyone need that this Painter guy shouldn't be taken seriously

[HipChick]

22. Disagree...he's come up with good gems..

[onenote]

25. And yet he doesn't even know the Speaker doesn't have to be a House member

[R B Garr]

24. Thank goodness he's not a divider and at least

tries to come up with solutions and doesn't spread the lie that Democrats and Republicans are the same. He sees how destructive Trump is to our country.

[melman]

35. It seems you're not very familiar with who this guy actually is

[R B Garr]

40. He sure has a good handle on priorities.

Very aware of the destruction brought on by Trump. Who would tell him to stop saying that Hillary is a good choice for office. Who would do that.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

27. Yep,

I get the whole enemy of my enemy thing.

But I can't take seriously the "ethics chief" who apparently was so silent during his own boss's administration. I mean the guy had to be busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.

[lapucelle]

33. Yes, why on earth would anyone take a board member of this organization seriously?

https://www.citizensforethics.org/

[Loki Liesmith]

26. Plans with low probability of success are a waste of time

[ClarendonDem]

29. Plans with "no" probability of success

[former9thward]

28. What's with the "sic" after "chuse"?

That is exactly how the word we now spell as "choose" was spelled in the 1700s.

[Stinky The Clown]

31. OFFS

[karynnj]

37. Remember Nixon Agneau

There would be a new VP

[Lil Missy]

43. No.