Pardon?
Giuliani is curled up on Trump’s lap begging for a pre-emptive pardon.
Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph Giulani, discussed with the president as recently as last week the possibility of being granted a “pre-emptive pardon,” according to the New York Times, which cited two anonymous sources.
Pardon for what? Not known, but best guess is that whole Ukraine thing. The Times wrote:
Such a broad pardon pre-empting any charge or conviction is highly unusual but does have precedent. George Washington pardoned plotters of the Whiskey Rebellion, shielding them from treason prosecutions. In the most famous example, Gerald R Ford pardoned Richard M Nixon for all of his actions as president. Jimmy Carter pardoned thousands of American men who illegally avoided the draft for the Vietnam War.
So Rudy wants to be coupled with Nixon. Ok.
And yesterday, conservative commentator Sean Hannity said on his radio show that Trump “needs to pardon his whole family and himself.”
So Hannity admitted they’re all criminals. Seems fair.
And think of the economies of scale possible if they all get banged up together in the same hoosegow. The mind boggles.
Is it even legal to pardon oneself? That doesn’t seem logical.
Government lawyers are asking that too. Some say yes, others say no. What’s legal is of course decided by the people who make the laws and, where there is such a thing, by a set of judges who check their work.
Should it be legal? Oh hell no.
The various examples given are pre-emptive, yes, but only Ford/Nixon strikes me as ‘broad’–the others are all fairly specific. I’ve wondered about that, actually–if the pardon power has to actually declare what you are being pardoned ~for~. It could make for interesting reading if Trump has to detail all the criminal activity he wants to exempt from each person’s prosecution.
Could he make it broad enough to cover crimes not yet committed? That could lead to trouble…
Well, back in the Middle Ages (Barr’s model of the Good Society) it was possible to buy Papal forgiveness for crimes one was planning to commit.
One of Luther’s pet peeves if I remember correctly.
Trump should definitely be selling indulgences.
Could Trump just pardon *everyone”? Or does he only get a certain number of goes?
That’s what I would do, as a final act of defiance, at hometime on my last day.
But that’s probably why I used to get into so much hot water when I worked for other people and why people hire me (at a long arm’s length) to break stuff now.
Yeah, Trump could pardon anyone (probably including himself), but there are a couple of reasons why that might not be a great idea:
1. He can only pardon federal crimes. They’d still be subject to prosecution at the state level.
2. Courts have ruled that accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt.
3. Somewhat related to (2), if you’re pardoned for certain activities, then you no longer risk self-incrimination, so you can be compelled to testify about them or risk perjury or contempt of court/Congress charges. (This is why Roger Stone asked for a commutation of his sentence, rather than a pardon.)
Maroon:
I’m talking about pardoning literally *everyone*, all at once.
latsot,
Yes, but you’d still have those issues. Sure, federal prosecutors couldn’t do anything, but state prosecutors and Congress could still investigate what happened; in the latter case, if they’re investigating things that are potentially federal crimes, anyone who’s been pardoned couldn’t plead the fifth. They wouldn’t go to prison for their federal crimes, of course, but those could be exposed, and Congress could take legislative action. And if they’ve committed state crimes, the pardon wouldn’t protect them. (NY State is already investigating Trump, and I’ve seen rumors that they’re ready to file charges on 1/22.)
I was just in it for the chaos it would cause.
Especially if there’s only one form to fill in. Then I’d leave forever so none of it would be my problem.