Impeach/indict in 2019, or in 2020?

[Quemado]

Case 1: Impeach/indict in 2019. If successful, Trump leaves office. Pence assumes the Presidency. The national nightmare is over in 2019.

Disadvantages of Case 1: The national nightmare is not necessarily over with Pence in the White House. Pence, in some ways, might actually be worse than Trump. Also, there would likely be a sitting President (Pence) running for election in 2020, with very few, if any, competitors within the Republican party. The Trump experiment is over and the party is not substantially weakened.

Case 2: Impeach/indict in 2020. Do not impeach or indict in 2019. Keep Trump in the White House until the spring of 2020, but held mostly in check by a Democratic House. As long as Trump is in office and under constant investigation, that would throw a huge monkey wrench into Trump's 2020 campaign, and the Republican party. Stretching out the various investigations into Trump would likely draw out John Kasich, Jeff Flake, and others to challenge Trump for the party's nomination. The challengers would be forced into criticizing Trump, making matters worse for Trump, and driving division into the Republican party. Trump and the Republican party would be weakened by all the investigations and the in-house bickering. A split might occur. The House could schedule an impeachment to occur right after Super Tuesday - March 3, 2020, which would be in all likelihood the time when a winner of the Republican primary would emerge. Trump's impeachment by the House in the spring of 2020 might be better in the long run in order to maximize damage to Trump as well as the Republican party. The fact that Trump is impeached by the House is damaging enough to his candidacy in 2020. If McConnell refuses to hold a trial, or not enough Republican Senators are willing to convict Trump, there will mostly likely be damage to the Republican party.

Disadvantages of Case 2: The national nightmare continues into 2020. McConnell could refuse to hold a trial. Not enough Republican Senators are willing to vote against Trump. The Justice Department could stick with its policy of not indicting a sitting President.