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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGabe Sherman: the President could be removed from office by disloyal Cabinet members
The brilliant Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair...
One of Trumps closest allies believes the president could be removed from office by disloyal Cabinet membersand hes writing a book about it.
In the closing days of the Alabama Senate election, Steve Bannon told people that Donald Trumps political survival depended on Trump supporting Roy Moore. Bannons argument, according to those who spoke with him, was that establishment Republicans and Democrats would use Moores defeat as a political weapon to force Trump to face the sexual harassment allegations that have dogged him since the 2016 election. Bannon called Alabama Trumps firebreak.
Last night, the flames leapt into the West Wing. Moores dramatic loss to Democrat Doug Jones in a state Trump carried by 62 percent is sowing panic among some of Trumps kitchen Cabinet. This shows the public is taking the sexual harassment issue seriously. The president has a big problem, a Republican close to the White House told me. Even before the election, Democrats renewed calls for Trump to resign for his alleged treatment of women. This week, three of Trumps accusers launched a media tour to elevate the issue. Even a member of Trumps administration weighed in. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said on Face the Nation that Trumps accusers should be heard and dealt with.
One Trump ally is making plans to commercialize Trumps downfall. Longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone told me he is working on a book titled The Unmaking of the President as part of a multi-book deal with Skyhorse Publishing. (Last fall, Skyhorse published Stones campaign account, The Making of the President 2016.) Ive been writing it as we go along, he told me.
Stone said he got the idea to write a book chronicling Trumps removal from office after watching how the White House responded to the Robert Mueller investigation. Its painfully obvious Mueller will bring charges, Stone said. The theory is Mueller will indict him on some process-related matter such as obstruction of justice. The only people who dont seem to know it are Ty Cobb, [John] Dowd, and the president.
Stone also believes Trump could be removed from office because he has surrounded himself with disloyal Cabinet members and other top officials. Nikki Haley stuck a knife in his back, Stone said, referring to her comments about Trumps accusers. According to Stones back-of-the-napkin tally, only two Cabinet members would vote against invoking the 25th Amendment, the provision by which the president can be deemed unable to serve (Congress would have to vote by a two-thirds majority to remove him permanently).
Stone made it clear hes not writing the book because he wants to, hes just planning ahead. I hope its a book I dont have to publish, he said, expressing dismay at Trumps political prospects. I just dont think Trump is being told the truth about how bad things are.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/12/roger-stone-book-fall-of-trump?mbid=nl_CH_5a316d83f23f9530d4dbadd6&CNDID=45600135&spMailingID=12557519&spUserID=MTYxNzY1ODQ1ODQ0S0&spJobID=1301242771&spReportId=MTMwMTI0Mjc3MQS2