Stop The Inauguration? Why Golden Shower Gate Won't Keep Donald Trump From Becoming President

Donald Trump may have been accused Tuesday night of being blackmailed by Russia with unverified evidence he ordered prostitutes to carry out graphic sex acts, but on Jan. 20 he's still likely going to be sworn in as the leader of the free world. No matter what your opinion on the unconfirmed Russia report is, Trump's election has already been certified by Congress.

Essentially, that means nothing stands between him and the Oval Office.

"Donald Trump is going to become the president in nine days," the reporters behind Politico's Playbook wrote in their Wednesday newsletter. "Unless he steps down — extraordinarily unlikely — short of impeachment, there is no mechanism we've heard of to strip him of the job. There's also no movement among Republicans to prevent him from taking the White House."

Both practically and constitutionally, Trump has won the election. He received nearly 63 million votes from the American people and 304 votes from members of the Electoral College, putting him way over the threshhold of 270. Despite objections, Congress formally counted the votes last week. As Vice President Joe Biden declared, "It is over."

As Politico noted, impeachment may be technically possible, but even that is a legal gray area. In order to be impeached, a president or vice president must have been involved with "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Whether the allegations that Trump's team collaborated with Russia to influence the election qualify in any of those categories is unclear.

Also, the only two presidents who have been impeached, Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, were charged in connection with crimes that happened while they were in office. Though some attorneys believe there's a precedent for impeachable offenses that occurred before a politician's election to his or her current position, Trump hasn't been sworn in.

While other facets of his business, family and foreign ties could inspire an impeachment debate later on, it's unlikely Golden Shower Gate alone could stop Trump in such a short turnaround before inauguration.