Pardon Me

[BoSoxGal]

Who will be recipient of the final presidential abuses of Donald J Trump?


I’m wondering about Ghislaine Maxwell, who has many secrets and possibly some Trump wants kept hidden. Pardoning a pedophile might seem to go against his QAnon base, but on the other hand there is that whole grey area where teenaged girls are considered fair game by many of the same folks who abhor pedophilia, so . . .


I’m also betting that Edward Snowden might benefit from Trump’s obsession with striking back at all Obama achievements and policies. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing Snowden get pardoned as I personally think he’s a whistleblower, not a traitor.


I’m expecting the adult Trump kids to get a blanket past and current illegal acts pardon.


Others?

[Guinevere]

I expect his last pardon will be of himself. He won’t care whether he can or not, but he will want the paper to wave around.

[Big RR]

So Guin, you think he doesn't really care if a self pardon is legal and whether he is prosecuted or not? You could be right; I wouldn't be surprised if he just wants to stick his finger in the eye of everyone. But pardon or not, I still maintain he will never be prosecuted; I wouldn't even be srprised if Biden pardoned him (just like Ford pardoned Nixon) because "the country doesn't need any more division" (sounds almost earnest, doesn't it?). Somehow, at that level, politicians forget their differences and just cover for each other; oh they blather and get them disbarred, but they are never really prosecuted publicly.

[ex-khobar Andy]

I expect his last pardon will be of himself. He won’t care whether he can or not, but he will want the paper to wave around.

That's a certainty in my book. That way he'll stay in the news for anther six months while that plays out, and will give him, and his demented 74 million fellow travelers, something more to feel victimized about.

[BoSoxGal]

I would fully support Biden pardoning Trump if it came with a guarantee he would go quietly to Mar a Lago and mind his own beeswax forevermore.

So no Biden pardon.

[Burning Petard]

Please note that Trump CANNOT legally live at his Mar a Lago resort. It was part of the deal he made when he purchased it. Sort of interesting now for the guy who became famous for his mastery of the art of the deal.

snailgate.

[BoSoxGal]

Right but how many days can he stay there at a time? I assume he’ll just rotate between Mar a Lago, Manhattan and Bedminster. Gotta keep those Secret Service expenditures high!

[MGMcAnick]

Right but how many days can he stay there at a time? I assume he’ll just rotate between Mar a Lago, Manhattan and Bedminster. Gotta keep those Secret Service expenditures high!

But at least he won't have the world's biggest business jet at his disposal.

I wonder how much his campaign truly pays for his use of Air Force One.

I think it would be funny if Biden would not allow Trump's departure from Washington on one of the two Boeing 747s outfitted for that purpose, as has become customary. "Sorry jerk. You'll have to leave in a DC police cruiser. Watch your head."

[BoSoxGal]

Today’s the day when we will learn upon which criminals Trump the criminal will bestow his final favor. (It will likely take years, if ever, for us to learn how much money he raked in selling the pardons.)

The one last decent thing he has the opportunity to do is to pardon Edward Snowden. Will he?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Hope he doesn't. Snowden and Assange - two traitors

[Big RR]

I would fully support Biden pardoning Trump if it came with a guarantee he would go quietly to Mar a Lago and mind his own beeswax forevermore.

So no Biden pardon.

You'd trust any guarantee of Trump?

[ex-khobar Andy]

I assume that's why he plans to leave DC in the morning tomorrow - as President until noon, he can still use AF One. It would be kind of nice if they were delayed en route and had to change the call sign while halfway to Florida. So I'm hoping for unexpected headwinds but that's just me being vindictive. Even better, Biden says he needs the plane: "Just drop it off in Memphis please, Donald: Budget have a desk there, I think. You'll be fine. Put it on my tab if you need to."

[BoSoxGal]

Hope he doesn't. Snowden and Assange - two traitors

Did you think the same about Daniel Ellsberg and Perry Fellwock?

[MajGenl.Meade]

I don't think about them at all. Neither convicted of any crime; neither pardoned by any President.

Perry Fellwock's parents should have been jailed for name-shaming a child

[BoSoxGal]

I don't think about them at all. Neither convicted of any crime; neither pardoned by any President.

Perry Fellwock's parents should have been jailed for name-shaming a child

They both disclosed highly sensitive national secrets, just like Snowden. What’s the fundamental difference in your mind?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Snowden was aided and abetted by Wikileaks, a Russian-proxy organ run by the commie-loving Assange. Where did Snowden flee to?

https://www.businessinsider.com/edward- ... 014-1?IR=T

[Bicycle Bill]

From the AP:

President Donald Trump pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon as part of a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of his White House term that benefited more than 140 people, including rap performers, ex-members of Congress and other allies of him and his family.

The last-minute clemency, announced Wednesday morning, follows separate waves of pardons over the last month for Trump associates convicted in the FBI’s Russia investigation as well as for the father of his son-in-law.  Taken together, the actions underscore the president’s willingness, all the way through his four years in the White House, to flex his constitutional powers in ways that defy convention and explicitly aid his friends and supporters.

Whereas pardon recipients are conventionally thought of as defendants who have faced justice, often by having served at least some prison time, the pardon for Bannon nullifies a prosecution that was still in its early stages and likely months away from trial in Manhattan, effectively eliminating any prospect for punishment.

Though other presidents have issued controversial pardons at the ends of their administration, perhaps no commander in chief has so enjoyed using the clemency authority to benefit not only friends and acquaintances but also celebrity defendants and those championed by allies.

Besides Bannon, other Trump family allies to get pardons were Elliott Broidy, a Republican fundraiser who pleaded guilty last fall in a scheme to lobby the White House to drop an investigation into the looting of a Malaysian wealth fund, and Ken Kurson, a friend of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner who was charged last October with cyberstalking during a heated divorce.

I found this list with additional names on Newsweek.com

• Joseph M. Arpaio—Contempt of Court
  Kristian Mark Saucier—Unauthorized retention of defense information
  I. Lewis Libby, aka Scooter Libby, aka Irve Lewis "Scooter" Libby—Obstruction of justice; false statements; perjury (two counts)
  John Arthur Johnson, aka Jack Johnson—Violation of the White Slave Traffic Act
  Dinesh D'Souza—Campaign contribution fraud
  Dwight Lincoln Hammond—Use of fire to damage and destroy property of the United States
  Steven Dwight Hammond—Use of fire to damage and destroy property of the United States (two counts)
  Michael Chase Behenna—Unpremeditated murder; assault
  Patrick James Nolan—Conducting the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering
  Conrad Moffat Black—Mail fraud; attempted obstruction of justice
  Michael Anthony Tedesco—Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute in excess of 5 kilograms of cocaine and quantities of marijuana
  Roy Wayne McKeever—Used telephone in distributing marijuana
  John Richard Bubala—Conversion of government property
  Chalmer Lee Williams—Conspiracy to steal firearms and other goods as part of an interstate shipment; theft from shipment in interstate commerce; theft of firearms shipped in interstate commerce
  Rodney M. Takumi—Participating in an illegal gambling business
  Zay Jeffries—Conspiracy to violate the Sherman Act
  Mathew Golsteyn—Premeditated murder (charged, not tried or convicted)
  Clint A. Lorance—Attempted murder; murder (two specifications); wrongfully communicating a threat (two specifications); reckless endangerment; solicitating a false statement; obstructing justice
  Angela Ronae Stanton—Conspiracy to transport in interstate commerce a stolen motor vehicle and tampering with a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
  Ariel Manuel Friedler—Conspiracy to access a protected computer without authorization
  David Hossein Safavian—Obstruction; false statement (three counts)
  Michael Robert Milken—Conspiracy; securities fraud; mail fraud; tax fraud; filing false reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); assisting a brokerage firm in violating its net capital requirements
  Paul Harvey Pogue—Making and subscribing a false tax return
  Bernard Bailey Kerik—Obstructing the administration of the Internal Revenue Laws; aiding in the preparation of a false income tax return; making false statements on a loan application; making false statements (five counts)
  Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.—Misprision of a felony
  Susan B. Anthony—Illegal voting   (this is about the only one I would not object to)
  Jon Donyae Ponder—Bank robbery; interference with commerce by armed robbery (six counts)
  Alice Marie Johnson—Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; attempted possession of 12 kilos of cocaine with intent to distribute; attempted possession of 9 kilos of cocaine; attempted possession of 75 kilos of cocaine; attempted possession of 10 kilos of cocaine; conspiracy to commit money laundering; money laundering ($1.5 million); structuring monetary transactions
  Michael T. Flynn—Making false statements to Federal investigators
  Phillip Kay Lyman—Conspiracy to operate off-road vehicles on public land closed to off-road vehicles; operation of off-road vehicle on public lands closed to off-road vehicles
  Otis Gordon—Sell, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance
  Weldon Hal Angelos—Possession with intent to distribute marijuana (five counts); possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime (three counts); possession of a stolen firearm (two counts); possession of a firearm with a removed serial number; use of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm (two counts); money laundering (three counts)
  Alex Van Der Zwaan—False statements
  George Papadopoulos—False statements
  Christopher Carl Collins—Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; false statements
  Duncan D. Hunter—Conspiracy to commit offenses
  Alfonso Antonio Costa—Health care fraud
  Paul Alvin Slough—Voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (13 counts); attempt to commit voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (17 counts); using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done
  Nicholas Abram Slatten—Murder in the first degree
  Evan Shawn Liberty—Voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (eight counts); attempt to commit voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (12 counts); using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done
  Dustin Laurent Heard—Voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (six counts); attempt to commit voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (11 counts); using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done
  Jose Alonso Compean—Assault with a dangerous weapon, and aiding and abetting; assault with serious bodily injury, and aiding and abetting; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence; deprivation of rights under color of law
  Alfred Lee Crum—Illegally operating a still; unlawful possession of a still; operating without bond
  Ignacio Ramos—Assault with a dangerous weapon and aiding and abetting; assault with serious bodily injury and aiding and abetting; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence; deprivation of rights under color of law
  Roger Joseph Stone Jr.—Obstruction of proceeding; false statements (five counts); witness tampering
  Paul J. Manafort—Subscribing to false United States individual income tax returns for 2010-2014 tax years (five counts); failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts for calendar years 2011-2014; bank fraud/Lender B/$3.4 million loan; bank fraud/Lender C/$1 million loan and Conspiracy against the United States; conspiracy to obstruct justice (witness tampering)
  Margaret E. Hunter—Conspiracy to commit offenses
  Charles Kushner—Fraud and false statements (16 counts); retaliating against witness, victim; statements or entries generally
  William Plemons—Structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements (four counts), Willfully attempting to evade personal income tax (three counts), and Wire fraud
  Topeka Kimberly Sam—Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride
  Peter Y. Atkinson—Mail fraud (three counts)
  John A. Boultbee—Mail fraud
  Andrew Barron Worden—Wire fraud
  Mary Ballard McCarty—Conspiracy to commit honest services fraud
  James J. Kassouf—Making a false tax return
  John Frederick Tate—Conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States; causing false records; causing false campaign contribution reports; false statements scheme
  Jesse R. Benton—Conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States; causing false records; causing false campaign contribution reports; false statements scheme
  Christopher Michael Wade—Sealed offenses of conviction
  Joseph Martin Stephens—Probation revocation
  Christopher II X—Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, Violation (4)
  Cesar Agusto Lozada—Conspiracy to distribute marijuana
  Rickey Ivan Kanter—Mail fraud
  Stephanie Christine Mohr—Deprivation of rights under color of law
  Robert Edward Coughlin II—Conflict of interest
  Mark Siljander—Obstruction of justice; violation of Foreign Agents Registration Act
  James Harutun Batmasian—Willful failure to pay over tax
  Gary Mark Brugman—Deprivation of rights under color of law
  Joseph Occhipinti—Conspiracy to violate civil rights; deprivation of rights under color of law (10 misdemeanor counts); false statements (six counts)
  Rebekah Kay Charleston—Conspiracy to commit tax evasion
  Russell Paul Plaisance—Conspiracy to unlawfully import cocaine into the U.S.

And here's a link to yet another list (from The Independent via Yahoo) with a few additional names, such as disgraced former Illinois governor Rob Blagojevich, and a little more detail into the cases/charges against these poor innocent lambs.

-"BB"-

[BoSoxGal]

Actually, pardoning Susan B. Anthony is an insult. It was civil disobedience- she wasn’t wrong, the law was. If alive I’m quite sure she’d refuse the pardon. Not least because it comes from the most disgusting example of walking sexism that ever stained the office.

[Bicycle Bill]

Actually, pardoning Susan B. Anthony is an insult. It was civil disobedience- she wasn’t wrong, the law was. If alive I’m quite sure she’d refuse the pardon. Not least because it comes from the most disgusting example of walking sexism that ever stained the office.

Not disagreeing with you — the law WAS wrong; but right or wrong, the law is the law.  And if you did something that was illegal at the time, you were held accountable to the law of the time — just the same way that if you did something that was LEGAL at the time but became illegal later on, you cannot be held culpable for those actions either (except by SJWs and the cancel culture, but that's a rant for another thread).

The REAL insult is that since ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, not a single one of the seventeen men who preceded Trump had already pardoned Ms. Anthony.

-"BB"-

[Crackpot]

Because she neither asked for or wanted to be pardoned. Accepting a pardon is equivalent (to those with scruples anyway) to admitting you did something wrong.