Are we looking at a two-month Pence Presidency to close out 2020?

[Bleacher Creature]

I've been thinking for a while that if Biden wins convincingly, with no hope of a spurious legal challenge succeeding, Trump will do the one thing he does best, which is to walk away and leave others holding the bag. Basically, he'll give Pence two months in office in exchange for having to to handle the transition to Biden.

The tax stuff only reinforces this prediction, in that Trump will try to push Pence for a pardon. Given that Pence doesn't have a prayer (pun intended) of ever winning the Presidency on his own, I wouldn't put it past him to make that trade.

[Laelth]

1. Two weeks will do.

Trump has a lot of pardons to issue on his own before handing the reigns over to Pence.



-Laelth

[MizLibby]

2. How can Pence pardon trump if there is nothing to pardon,

he hasn't been convicted of anything yet. The pardon power of the President applies only to convictions under federal law as far as I know. Am I missing something?

[Bleacher Creature]

5. Isn't that what Ford did with Nixon?? NT

[Blue_true]

19. Exactly. Nixon had not been convicted of anything.

Recently, Trump has pardon some people that were awaiting trial, two soldiers that were accused of murdering civilians.

[zipplewrath]

9. Ford for Nixon

Go read up on what Ford did for Nixon after his resignation.

[DonaldsRump]

10. That is not correct

The President can pardon for any federal crime, whether charged or not. Gerald Ford did this as President in September 1974 for Richard Nixon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while he was President until the day he resigned (i.e., January 20, 1969-August 9, 1974).

Nixon was never charged with any crimes. He accepted the pardon, which ended the possibility of any federal criminal charges against him during the period mentioned in the pardon.

[MizLibby]

12. Thanks for the info...

This pardon rule sucks IMO.

[DonaldsRump]

18. It certainly does when the subject is Donald Trump and his henchpersons

Even Richard Nixon did not have the gall to pardon himself, although the Justice Department had conducted research that said that a President's pardoning powers were so broad, the President could even pardon him/herself. While there was never any conclusive proof that Nixon and Ford had a deal, the fact of the matter is that Ford pardoned Nixon less than one month after Nixon's resignation.

This issue of a self-pardon has never come up, and I don't think our Fat Impeached Infector-in-Chief would want to chance it.

That's why the likely scenario would be for Trump to resign after he loses and let Pence pardon him. Of course, that would ONLY be for federal crimes, not state crimes, although my understanding is that Brett Kavanaugh might say both.

[Blue_true]

20. Why wouldn't Trump try a self pardon. He is reckless enough to try that.

Who has standing to sue him and take it into Court. Courts have already ruled that even members of Congress like standing in some cases. It would be very Trumpian to pardon himself and throw the decision of it’s legality to the Courts, knowing that him and McConnell have packed the Courts with zealots.

[DonaldsRump]

22. He could. Nixon had Justice Department research commissioned that said he could pardon himself

It's just never been done before, and it would be easier to get away with it if someone else pardoned him.

If recall correctly, during Trump's impeachment, several legal scholars disagreed with the notion that a person can pardon him/herself. That's the reason i would think Trump wouldn't chance it. If/when he and the Reputincans lose, everything changes (White House and Congress, hopefully).

[H2O Man]

15. Yes, you are

missing something. A president can pardon someone for crimes they may have commited. The Ford pardon of Nixon provides the obvious proof of that.

[SoonerPride]

3. Wouldn't that mean he could only serve 1 term if he ran

Wouldn’t he be boxed out of serving two terms if he ran and won in the future?

Why would he throw away a possible second term for two months just to do Trump a favor?

[marie999]

14. Without looking it but because I am ready for bed,

I think a person has to become president for less than 2 years for them to be elected twice. 2 years and they can only be elected once. Someone staying up later can Google it.

[smb]

16. Only 50%+ Of A Term Counts Toward The Limit

Under the 22nd Amendment; less than half a term doesn't count. For instance, LBJ succeeded to the Presidency in late 1963, was elected in his own right in 1964, and could have run again in 1968 (but decided not to because Vietnam was turning into a hopeless shitshow).

[SoonerPride]

24. Thank you! That makes sense.

[badhair77]

4. I wouldn't cancel that out. trump will be desperate and pence

is such a loser he’d do anything to get that title. Integrity is not in his vocabulary. That doesn’t stop any state charges, though. I’m thinking he’ll do as much damage as possible, kind of like a tenant who trashes the place knowing he’s being evicted.

[Budi]

6. Since much of the tax problem concerns his properties in NY

a big part of Trump's debacle resides in NY State where Pence has no pardon jurisdiction & Barr has no chance of getting involved.

We'll have to check with NYAG Leticia James as to Trump's fate.

😁

[Cha]

7. Imo.. trump is too much of a Sociopathic

Psychotic, Arrogant, LYING, Murdering, Treasonous ASSFACE to resign.. like a normal human being would.

[avebury]

8. Pence might agree to pardon Trump but

he can’t protect Trump from state charges. He has fraudulent Federal Tax returns, he has to have fraudulent State Tax returns. And of course there might be a lot more criminal charges.

[BlueTsunami2018]

11. I don't think he'll concede even in a landslide.

He’ll call it fake, he’ll call for the bikers and militias to take to the streets, he’ll refuse any calls to leave. This ends badly no matter what happens.

[badhair77]

13. Totally believable also.

[Girard442]

17. Trump doesn't have the head plumbing to suss the upside of resigning.

To him it would just be losing.

[bdamomma]

21. Isn't Pence as

dirty as tRump. Maybe a president Pelosi is in the cards. McConnell would crack up.

[Blue Owl]

23. Mother's little pariah...

[ooky]

25. Pence can't protect Trump from prosecution by New York

which is why I don't think it will end that way unless there is more to the deal than just a pardon.

Trump has the leverage right now to negotiate a deal with New York though. He could agree to not nominate a SCOTUS justice in exchange for being able to keep himself and his worthless brats out of prison. Not saying it will happen, but it is probably his best bargaining chip if he decides he wants to do a deal.