Trump cult woman took private jet to try and thwart democracy

BoroMart said:
You would also have to question the validity of any attempt to pardon his children or himself, he can't restore civil rights that have yet to be taken away. You can't pre-emptively pardon, surely.
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Yes, what's known as a "prospective pardon" (before any charges or conviction) can be issued. It's been done several times, actually. Not only Ford with Nixon but it also happened several other times. Firstly in 1866, there was the case of a Confederate senator who was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson.

Jimmy Carter in 1977 pardoned thousands of Vietnam War "draft dodgers," who had not yet been charged, enabling them to return home from Canada.

Then there was George Bush in 1993 who also pre-emptively pardoned six people involved in the Iran-contra affair, including Caspar Weinberger, the former defense secretary who was awaiting trial at the time.
 
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Liamo said:
Yes, what's known as a "prospective pardon" (before any charges or conviction) can be issued. It's been done several times, actually. Not only Ford with Nixon but it also happened several other times. Firstly in 1866, there was the case of a Confederate senator who was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson.

Jimmy Carter in 1977 pardoned thousands Vietnam War "draft dodgers," who had not yet been charged, enabling them to return home from Canada.

Then there was George Bush in 1993 who also pre-emptively pardoned six people involved in the Iran-contra affair, including Caspar Weinberger, the former defense secretary who was awaiting trial at the time.
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Good research/knowledge . I can't see any of those considerations applying to out and out rioters.
 
HundredRoom said:
Good research/knowledge . I can't see any of those considerations applying to out and out rioters.
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Presidential pardon powers are incredibly broad. He could certainly pardon the rioters if he wanted to.

Just going back to that 1866 case, it was litigated all the way to the US Supreme Court, which issued a ruling saying that:
the [presidential] pardon power “extends to every offense known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment.”
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Sheriff_John_Bunnell_ret said:
You would have thought assange would be the first to be pardoned by trump, given the help he gave him to get into power.
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He's previously said that he was looking at pardons for both Assange and Edward Snowden, although he realises that would be highly unpopular with the military and intelligence communities.
 
Re Assange given that he is still in UK custody can he still pardon him?

Reports that up to a 100 pardons will be issued in the next 48 hours including a lot of white collar criminals - no doubt arranging for cash to go through the usual channels and find its way into Trump’s seedy empire.
 
Abel Tasman said:
Re Assange given that he is still in UK custody can he still pardon him?
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Yes, since he is facing charges in the US. In fact, the only reason he's still in custody is because the US is trying to extradite him and prosecute him there.

See the Supreme Court ruling I cited earlier - a person can be pardoned at any point after the commission of an (alleged) crime.
 
Is it common practice for outgoing American Presidents to dole out this many pardons? I think I can guess the answer to this, but I thought it’s worth asking as a few of you seem quite knowledgeable.
 
weemoby said:
Is it common practice for outgoing American Presidents to dole out this many pardons? I think I can guess the answer to this, but I thought it’s worth asking as a few of you seem quite knowledgeable.
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Yes. I think Clinton pardoned about 150 people in his last day in office.
 
weemoby said:
Thanks for that.
So as much as I dislike the man, his behaviour here is hardly unprecedented.
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It’s not the number of people he’s pardoning that’s unprecedented. In fact, until recently Trump had pardoned fewer people than his recent predecessors.

It’s who he’s pardoning that’s the problem. There’s usually a formal process for prisoners and others to request pardons, which are assessed by officials and then those with merit are passed through to the president for consideration.

Virtually everyone Trump has pardoned has circumvented that route and they all seem to have a personal connection to him!
 
weemoby said:
Thanks for that.
So as much as I dislike the man, his behaviour here is hardly unprecedented.
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It's not the number of pardons, but the nature of them that is the issue with Trump. These are all pardons that are of benefit to protecting the presidents legal jeopardy. Personally I don't think pardons have any place in a democracy, of there has been a miscarriage of justice there are legal means to redress that, presidential pardons are always open to support corruption
 
Sheriff_John_Bunnell_ret said:
Assanges lawyer stated in court that he had a meeting with two people claiming to represent trump's interests who stated he would receive a pardon if he revealed his sources for the democrat emails.

www.google.com

Trump 'associates' offered Assange pardon in return for emails source, court hears

WikiLeaks founder was asked to reveal source of leak damaging to Hillary Clinton, hearing told
www.google.com www.google.com
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"stated he (Assange) would receive a pardon if he revealed his sources for the democrat emails"

Slimy character that Trump, isn't he?
 
Billy Horner said:
It’s not the number of people he’s pardoning that’s unprecedented. In fact, until recently Trump had pardoned fewer people than his recent predecessors.

It’s who he’s pardoning that’s the problem. There’s usually a formal process for prisoners and others to request pardons, which are assessed by officials and then those with merit are passed through to the president for consideration.

Virtually everyone Trump has pardoned has circumvented that route and they all seem to have a personal connection to him!
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Nice use of fewer.
 
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