Fight or flight. No win situation for this guy, evidently. No viable escape route left. If he originally chose flight, it didn't work. Grassley is just playing with his food and Avenatti is dinner.
I don't think Germany will want to wait another 3 years. They're not voting against Merkel, they're voting against her policies and against anyone involved in implementing them. This is just a bone thrown to the populace in the hope of limping into 2021 without new federal elections, if you ask me. New elections would remove the old guard, so can't do that from Merkel's POV.
There's blood in the water now. 3rd party voters have had an effect and it will continue until Merkel has been stripped of her ability to implement policy, IMO.