Business Insider: Putin Could Save Trump from Prosection

Business Insider Camila DeChalus outlined on Friday what can only be described as a long shot — but possible — scenario in which former President Donald Trump abandons the United States and defects to Putin's Russia. A worry we have conveyed to the readers of Wall Street Rebel a few times this year.

Business Insider Camila DeChalus speculates that the former president is charged with a crime and may be saved by Vladimir Putin's government from prosecution. By allowing him, like many high-ranking foreign officials with ties to Russia, to defect and by doing so would be beyond the reach of prosecutors here in the United States.

DeChalus wrote…

"Imagine this scenario: Former President Donald Trump boards his private plane and leaves the U.S. to resume his international business dealings in Russia," wrote DeChalus. "The day after Trump lands in Moscow on a bright September afternoon, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announces a grand jury has formally indicted the former president on several criminal counts. Vance wants Trump to immediately return. But the U.S. and Russia have no extradition treaty or formal process through which a wanted person is arrested. Since Trump would be on Russian soil in this scenario, he would be under no legal obligation to cooperate with the U.S. government. Trump then could petition Russian President Vladimir Putin for political asylum."

This is an improbable scenario on many levels, noted DeChalus — but it is legally possible.

DeChalus goes on to say…

"Trump hasn't formally announced plans to travel abroad this year and isn't known to have left the U.S. since his term ended on January 20," said the report. "Nevertheless, Trump, like any other American citizen, is free to leave the U.S. since he hasn't been charged with a crime ... The possibilities of where Trump could hide to avoid prosecution are plenty. There were more than 70 countries that did not have an extradition agreement with the U.S. as of 2020. These countries included China, Belarus, Russia, Saudi Arabia — and Indonesia, where Trump's company is in the process of constructing new hotels and golf courses."

Since leaving office, Trump's close relationship with Putin and Russia has become more apparent, with more evidence that the Russian government, directed by the Russian autocrat, worked to interfere in the presidential election in 2016 and 2020. It's also likely Trump's purchase of his Turnberry golf resort was made with laundered Russian Oligarch funding. In other words, allegations of money laundering in the hundreds of billions have been underway by Trump, his businesses, and Russia's elite looking to hide money.  DeChalus concedes that because of all this laundered money and close tied to Russia and Putin - if Trump wanted to avoid extradition, Russia would be an obvious choice…

DeChalus wrote…

"Trump is under investigation in Washington, DC, New York City, New York state, and Fulton County, Georgia." Investigators in New York are looking into Trump's finances and his business dealings. In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis investigates Trump's January 2 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. During the call, Trump pressured him to 'find' votes to overturn the election results in the state that Biden won in the November presidential election. In Washington, prosecutors are also looking at the role Trump played in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol."

The downside, of course, is Manhatten and New York State prosecutors may indict Trump's business, its executives, which include his three oldest children, and Trump as soon as by early July. His taking asylum in Russia would look like an admission of guilt by the former president and could prompt the court to appoint a receiver to run The Trump Organization and, by doing so, complete control of virtually all of Trump's money.

Trump's seeking asylum could also be used by the U.S. government to freeze his political action committee's fund and any go fund monies raised for his legal defense by his supporters.

Trump's sudden defection could also color the prosecution of his lawyer Rudy Guiliani who saw his license to practice law suspended by a New York Appellate Court on Thursday. If Trump defected, that would leave Guiliani and other supporters left to possibly face much longer jail sentences if they don't completely roll on Trump.

Of course, there's the most obvious question. If Trump is indicted, would he still attempt to run for President in 2024? Doing so would likely be a disaster for the Republican Party. It would solidify Democrat accusations that he wants to be an autocrat/dictator, a Russian traitor, and the worst Constitutional crises since the Civil War.

If Trump defected before the 2022 election, it could cascade into the worst defeat for the Republican party since 2008, up and down both the election ballots for state and federal offices.  Keep in mind in 2008, the Democrats initially had 60 Senate seats. An increase that puts that number at 55 or 54 seats would mean the end of the filibuster and passage of all the reforms most Democrats lawmakers want in Congress, including concerning Reforming the Supreme Court and nationalizing voter rights laws – a death knell for the Republican Party.

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