Can Trump Pardon Himself?
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Via Elizabeth Holtzman for WaPo
Can President Trump pardon himself? Can he pardon his close associates and family members?
These questions have begun to simmer as special counsel Robert S. Mueller III ramps up his investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in its interference with the 2016 presidential election. Mueller is also, undoubtedly, looking into whether the president obstructed justice by firing FBI Director James B. Comey. Jared Kushner, the presid
Gee, I wonder if the trump gangsters asked that question of Walter Schaub, our soon-to-be former Ethics Director who gave his resignation, effective July 19th. That could have been what finally pushed him over the edge. Shaub said: “In working with the current administration, it has become clear to me that we need improvements to the existing ethics program. I look forward to working toward that aim at Campaign Legal Center, as well as working on ethics reforms at all levels of government.” I also heard that trump’s people would ask Schaub if such-n-such was illegal and if not, they were gonna do it – really not interested in the ethics question.
WaPo published a great opinion piece worth a read and there is a comment posted to it that is outstanding, clever and funny! Here’s a link to the WaPo article https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/07/07/the-ethics-czars-lament/?utm_term=.269ca0de40c9#comments, paste in your browser and look for Graybeardscientist and his version of Schaub’s first draft. Really good.
I cannot even imagine who trump would put into that chair on July 19th…..or just leave it empty as he has so many other seats.
– Murphy
There is more to this picture. The president’s pardoning power only extends to criminal offenses committed against the United States, that being federal crimes pursuant to U.S. Code. The pardon power doesn’t extend to crimes committed in violation of state criminal law. So, if Trump, members of his family, relations, friends, confederates, aiders and abetters, committed acts that violated state criminal laws, they have no protection from criminal prosecution via the president’s pardoning power. They are all fair game. And since Trump and his posey have little regard for the law no matter where they are and no matter what they are doing, one can only hope that they left their mark where Trump resides and has his headquarters, Manhattan. A city where the Trump clan is so loved and cherished Just think of the November 8, 2016 and the Manhattan election returns: Clinton: 515,481; Trump: 58,935. With this in mind, let’s not forget that there are these kind of investigations are ongoing that we know about
http://www.bristolpress.com/article/printarticle/articleid/283593.html
conducted by an Attorney General having no love loss for Trump:
http://forward.com/fast-forward/366514/is-eric-scheidsman-going-to-war-with-trump/
https://www.themarysue.com/state-of-the-resistance/
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/09/eric-trump-foundation-new-york-attorney-general-eric-schneiderman-239358
https://ag.ny.gov/new-york-office
Trump would just say “Fu*k It” and try anyway. Does anyone really think this assh*le gives a sh*t about ANY rule of law and wouldn’t think twice (or once for that matter) about dragging the whole country down his dishonest cesspool of ego.
Taking others down with you is a classic characteristic of a malignant narcissist. I agree, he’ll take down anything and everyone if he’s wounded.
The takeaway here is that our Fair Leader considers making illegal activity legal a better strategy than just ceasing the illegal activity. If Bill Clinton ever suggested a blow-job self pardon, quite a few in the GOP might have countenanced a self-immolation protest on the Capital floor.