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Trump opening sluices gate of manure - Clemency City!

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Jimmy Higgins

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article title says it all said:
Trump Gives Clemency to More Allies, Including Manafort, Stone and Charles Kushner
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Jebus!

article said:
President Trump doled out clemency to a new group of loyalists on Wednesday, wiping away convictions and sentences as he aggressively employed his power to override courts, juries and prosecutors to apply his own standard of justice for his allies.

One recipient of a pardon was a family member, Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Two others who were pardoned declined to cooperate with prosecutors in connection with the special counsel’s Russia investigation: Paul Manafort, his 2016 campaign chairman, and Roger J. Stone Jr., his longtime informal adviser and friend.
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I ponder if this will create a new Amendment.

And let's not forget his forgiving of the Blackwater Murderers.
 
Big list of links:
From Wikipedia:
Since taking office as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017, Donald Trump, according to Mark Knoller, has granted executive clemency to 92 individuals charged or convicted of federal criminal offenses, as authorized under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution.[1] Ordinarily, all requests for executive clemency for federal offenses are directed to the Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA) in the U.S. Department of Justice for review; however, Trump has frequently bypassed the OPA, and the majority of his executive clemency grants have been to well-connected convicted persons who did not file a petition with the OPA or meet the OPA's requirements.[2]
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Kyle Griffin on Twitter: "BREAKING: Trump just pardoned Charles Kushner, Paul Manafort, and Roger Stone. More pardons for friends and associates." / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "A flow of pardons for the wealthy and corrupt, yet Brandon Bernard was left to die when his own jurors and prosecutor begged for mercy.

Our carceral system laid bare for the world to see." / Twitter

Then
🌹Shahid Buttar for Congress on Twitter: "@AOC Trump’s pardons are worse than merely corrupt. They send a dangerous signal that will likely empower even worse consequences in the future." / Twitter

'Our blood is cheaper than water': anger in Iraq over Trump pardons | Iraq | The Guardian
Iraqis have reacted with outrage to Donald Trump’s move to pardon four security guards from the security firm Blackwater who were jailed for a 2007 massacre that sparked an outcry over the use of mercenaries in war.

The four men were part of a security convoy that fired on civilians at a central Baghdad roundabout, killing 14 people including a nine-year old child and wounding many more.

The four guards – Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten – opened fire indiscriminately with machine guns, grenade launchers and a sniper on a crowd of unarmed people at a roundabout, known as Nisour Square.
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Then
🌹Shahid Buttar for Congress on Twitter: "@guardian Trump’s pardons sent a dangerous signal around the world akin to the CIA’s torture programs.

The country that once proudly won a World War to establish international human rights has now declared open season on them." / Twitter
then
🌹Shahid Buttar for Congress on Twitter: "Instead of pardoning Snowden or Reality Winner, Trump today pardoned murderous mercenaries whose human rights abuses—unlike whistleblowers—ultimately undermined U.S. national security in several ways.

The pardons announce to the world that America holds human rights in disdain." / Twitter
 
I'm trying to quote the last sentence of the post. But every time I try it sends me to Twitter, which I don't want.

The USA doesn't hold human rights in disdain. It's the Trump supporters. The TeaPartiers. The Republicans who can't escape the political hellhole of 2020 Republican politics. Those are the people who hold human rights and democracy and system in disdain.

Not Americans as a whole....

Tom
 
As an American you can't separate yourself from what the American government does. Hope I don't need to expand on that.
 
Gospel said:
As an American you can't separate yourself from what the American government does. Hope I don't need to expand on that.
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That's a provocative point, but then again, Trump's presidency was not the will of the American voter in '16. 2.8 million is a lot of people, and that's T's margin of loss in the popular vote. Republicans are perfecting the science of minority rule, which will more and more call into question the concept of representative government. The Supreme Court now looks like a reunion of a 1970s cathechism class, and the GOP has created gerrymandered seats in Congress with great industry in the last 20 years. Both of those circumstances are hard to counteract and tend to make the government relatively unrepresentative of the US electorate. The power of money to push plutocracy is perhaps even stronger as a derangement of democracy.
 
Am I mistaken that if a person accepts a presidential pardon that they have:

1. Admitted to the crime for which they were convicted, admitted guilt.

2. Given up their 5th amendment right to silence.

This means that any of Trumpo's pardonees can be called to testify and give evidence, and cannot refuse to talk. They cannot be convicted of the crime again, but I suppose they could be held in contempt of court and sentenced accordingly if they refused to cooperate.
 
T.G.G. Moogly said:
Am I mistaken that if a person accepts a presidential pardon that they have:

1. Admitted to the crime for which they were convicted, admitted guilt.

2. Given up their 5th amendment right to silence.

This means that any of Trumpo's pardonees can be called to testify and give evidence, and cannot refuse to talk. They cannot be convicted of the crime again, but I suppose they could be held in contempt of court and sentenced accordingly if they refused to cooperate.
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umm...maybe? But also probably not?
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNZc9H54eBI[/youtube]

In before the usual suspects do their whataboutism crap as though this is totally precedented (FYI, it isn't).
 
This in the Washington Post today

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/29/trump-pardons-stephanie-mohr-prince-georges/

Opinions
Trump’s worst pardon is one you haven’t heard about

"Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Charles Kushner, Stephanie Mohr. You’ve probably heard about President Trump’s odious pre-Christmas pardons for the first three — and nothing about Mohr, a former Prince George’s County police officer. But Mohr’s pardon — for violating a homeless man’s civil rights by unleashing her K-9 on him — is equally, if not more undeserving. Of all the acts to pardon in a year that witnessed the killing of George Floyd, it is the most insensitive and inflaming."
 
Gospel said:
As an American you can't separate yourself from what the American government does. Hope I don't need to expand on that.
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For most of my life I would have agreed.

But over the last couple of decades of so I find it less and less true. From vicious partisanship to wedge issues, from corruption to bribery, from gerrymandering to an increasingly gameable EC, I think we've moved a long way towards an oligarchy that doesn't represent the American people.
Tom
 
T.G.G. Moogly said:
Am I mistaken that if a person accepts a presidential pardon that they have:

1. Admitted to the crime for which they were convicted, admitted guilt.

2. Given up their 5th amendment right to silence.

This means that any of Trumpo's pardonees can be called to testify and give evidence, and cannot refuse to talk. They cannot be convicted of the crime again, but I suppose they could be held in contempt of court and sentenced accordingly if they refused to cooperate.
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Interestingly, the "sentence" for contempt of court is basically "life". That is, you are given the opportunity to comply with the court, but sit in jail indefinitely until you choose to do so.
I wouldn't have a problem with Trump's Pardonees being harassed every day of the rest of their lives being compelled to testify... in EVERYTHING... If I have to go to traffic court for a speeding ticket, I want Roger Stone dragged in to testify on what he may or may not have seen that night.
 
TomC said:
Gospel said:
As an American you can't separate yourself from what the American government does. Hope I don't need to expand on that.
Click to expand...

For most of my life I would have agreed.

But over the last couple of decades of so I find it less and less true. From vicious partisanship to wedge issues, from corruption to bribery, from gerrymandering to an increasingly gameable EC, I think we've moved a long way towards an oligarchy that doesn't represent the American people.
Tom
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Wait, but don;t you understand? Since our elections are rigged and unreliable, I cannot take any blame for what the American government does... I don't have any influence since my vote is not really counted how I cast it. On the other hand, I don't pay federal taxes at all anymore, since I have no representation.
/sarcasm
 
 
 
 
Trump to issue around 100 pardons and commutations Tuesday, sources say - CNNPolitics
President Donald Trump is preparing to issue around 100 pardons and commutations on his final full day in office Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the matter, a major batch of clemency actions that includes white collar criminals, high-profile rappers and others but -- as of now -- is not expected to include Trump himself.
The White House held a meeting on Sunday to finalize the list of pardons, two sources said.
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Donald Trump's 11th-hour pardons keep with tradition, even if those pardoned do not - CNNPolitics
Unlike past presidents, Trump has shown little interest in using the Justice Department's Pardon Attorney system for assessing requests for executive clemency. Instead, petitioners are approaching the White House directly, calling or emailing senior adviser Jared Kushner, chief of staff Mark Meadows or White House counsel Pat Cipollone -- when they can't get a hold of Trump himself.

Many of the people Trump has chosen to pardon so far fall along predictable lines: associates such as Roger Stone and Michael Flynn who remained loyal to him through their legal troubles; criminals with friendly or familial ties to the administration, such as Jared Kushner's father Charles; celebrities or people connected to celebrities, such as Rod Blagojevich; and those whose cause was taken up by conservative media, such as Blackwater security guards who massacred Iraqi civilians.
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One thing is for sure, however. These will be the last people that he ever pardons.
 
Nothing is for certain in America it seems right now.
ZiprHead said:
Some legal eagles think if Trump is impeached again, he loses his pardon power until the case is adjudicated.
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I'm pretty certain there is no standing law to justify that opinion. I believe the only thing the President can't pardon are impeachments (mainly because of the high bar to impeach).
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Nothing is for certain in America it seems right now.
ZiprHead said:
Some legal eagles think if Trump is impeached again, he loses his pardon power until the case is adjudicated.
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I'm pretty certain there is no standing law to justify that opinion. I believe the only thing the President can't pardon are impeachments (mainly because of the high bar to impeach).
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That would have been a good feature to add.
 
Trump's last-minute pardons include Bannon, Lil Wayne and scores of others - CNNPolitics

Trump pardons and commutations – the full list | Donald Trump | The Guardian - "US president has pardoned 70 people and commuted the sentences of a further 73 people"

Full list of Trump's last-minute pardons and commuted sentences

The most prominent of them is Steve Bannon. From NBC:
Stephen K. Bannon: Trump's former chief strategist in the White House was in charge of the final months of his 2016 presidential campaign and was indicted in August along with three others on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges. Prosecutors alleged that Bannon’s crowdfunding “We Build the Wall” campaign raised more than $25 million from Trump supporters and used hundreds of thousands for personal expenses. He was taken into custody by U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents while on board the yacht of Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui. Bannon received a full pardon and now will not have to face a trial.
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From The Guardian:
Steve Bannon

Bannon, 67, was a key adviser in Trump’s 2016 presidential run. He was charged last year with swindling Trump supporters over an effort to raise private funds to build the president’s wall on the US-Mexico border. He has pleaded not guilty.

White House officials had advised Trump against pardoning Bannon, who left the Trump administration in late 2017. The two men have lately rekindled their relationship as Trump sought support for his unproven claims of voter fraud, an official familiar with the situation said.
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Notable absences are Capitol insurrectionists, his family, and himself.
 
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