With His Pardons of Stone and Manafort, Trump Completes His Cover-Up

[babylonsister]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/12/with-his-pardons-of-stone-and-manafort-trump-completes-his-cover-up/


7 hours ago
With His Pardons of Stone and Manafort, Trump Completes His Cover-Up
These acts don’t just protect his former aides; they protect Trump.
Dan Friedman
David Corn


By pardoning Paul Manafort and Roger Stone on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump concluded a four-year campaign to use his office to cover up his own wrongdoing in the Trump-Russia scandal. Trump aided and abetted Vladimir Putin’s attack on the 2016 election—which had the aim of helping Trump win the White House—by denying this assault was real, while he simultaneously sought to exploit Moscow’s operation for his own political gain. Ever since, Trump has strived to keep this scandal from defining his presidential victory and his presidency, and he has endeavored to hide his own possible criminality. With these pardons, that effort, which has largely succeeded, is complete.

Stone and Manafort were among 26 pardons and three commutations Trump issued Wednesday, following a batch on Tuesday. This slew of pardons is collectively corrupt. While ignoring thousands of Americans who may deserve clemency but lack the political juice to win presidential assistance, Trump singled out for special dispensation war criminals, the powerful and the connected, friends of his allies, the father of his son-in-law, and corrupt former Republican congressmen. But Manafort and Stone are in a special category.

Their pardons are part of Trump’s crusade to take revenge on Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation that detailed the Russian attack that helped Trump win, that led to criminal convictions of Trump aides, and that provided evidence arguably showing that Trump had obstructed justice. But the pardons are more than that. They aim to help Trump himself.

snip//

Trump and his enablers will continue to claim falsely that the Russia scandal was a hoax. But the reports from Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee show this was a profoundly serious matter that included what appears to be significant wrongdoing on the part of Trump’s campaign, his aides, and Trump himself. With these pardons, Trump made sure the public would not learn the full story about their recipients—or about his own suspicious actions. With this use—or abuse—of presidential power, Trump is not only protecting his henchmen; he is protecting himself. These pardons don’t end the scandal; they are part of it.

[Iliyah]

1. Nope . ...

On the contrary. shithole has exposed that in fact he and his criminal cabal are Russian assets and unpatriotic.

[beachbumbob]

2. the only hope would be for state charges and then that will be tested at the Supreme Court

as GOP NEEDS to have the court rule that state charges are "double jeopardy". Then all recourse is lost for accountability

[GoCubsGo]

3. The only thing he completed was a massive obstruction of justice.

He didn't cover up anything. Quite the opposite, and I suspect it was only the tip of the ice berg. The one good thing is that these assholes are stupid, and they will likely go on to commit more prosecutable acts. I have no doubt they have already committed numerous crimes that weren't prosecuted. If I were them, I'd be looking to move to a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty, because this ain't over.

[mitch96]

4. Just like the Mafia.. You don't know nothing, you don't say nothing, if you get convicted

do your time and you will get rewarded.....Yup, mafia code of silence, the omertà
m

[Volaris]

9. We dont necessarily need anyone to testify, we just need the unredacted complete Mueller Report

Pretty sure a good bit of the proof is gonna be in there.

[Blue Owl]

14. Donny's mobbed it up another notch

[Mr. Ected]

5. When Trump is proven to be a co-conspirator, which he undoubtedly is

The Court will have no choice but to disregard the pardons as nothing more than an abuse of power and textbook obstruction of justice.

Trump ought to go to prison for the rest of his days to discourage any other wannabe fascists from attempting the same in the future.

[StarfishSaver]

7. The Court won't disregard the parfons

But if it can be proven that he offered them as part of a cover-up, he can be charged with obstruction of justice.

[kacekwl]

6. Just because these people were pardoned

doesn't mean they can't be called to testify in upcoming investigations into the crimes they committed or have knowledge of. If they lie to Congress or the FBI can they be charged again ?

[GoCubsGo]

8. As I understand things, they can be charged at any time.

Just not for the crimes for which they were pardoned. If there are outstanding crimes, they can be charged for those, as well as for any future crimes. That includes lying to Congress or to any court of law. In accepting these pardons, they have abdicated any right to plead the Fifth Amendment. This could very well turn into yet another case of "Trump only makes things worse for Trump."

[quakerboy]

10. Does it though?

Now pardoned.. they have no self incrimination to worry about.

And if they choose to lie to protect him.. we get them on perjury, which is a crime committed after the pardons and after the ability to pardon leaves trump.

And these pardons open the door for Biden to do some stuff. He can unilaterally pardon quite a few people mistreated by the system.

[certainot]

11. there's a big part of this left out there for discovering and investigatiion - trummp/putin use

of US talk radio

some of it may be referenced in the redacted mueller report. putin has been using rw radio since at least 2008, when mnaafort was mccain's campaign cochair and simultaneously working for russians. his job with them was to get people elected who were friendly to putin and palin was being wooed by russian oil and gas. limbaugh would not support mcccain until minutes after he announced palin. the announcement was timed to the start of the limbaugh show, just as was the guiliani/powell press conference on 'election theft'.

sam nunberg needds to be asked details about his statement that he "listened to 1000s of hours of talk radio" for trump in 2014, the same year a russian troll says he got a list of topics to write about and russian hackers were traveling through swing states hacking dem candidates offices, etc what was stone doing with the reports from nunberg?

talk radio is a huge part of the russian strategy and dem investigators have a whole new world to look into on that angle - and they need to do it before limbaugh croaks.

[samnsara]

12. we need to install billboards in the towns these convicted crooks live in..with

..pictures of their victims. No need for words or explanations..it will be for an audience of one and they will know. We need for them to be haunted out of existence.

Merry Christmas

[Blue Owl]

13. But I thought it was all just a big failed witch hunt?

[mitch96]

15. That's the problem, they were looking for witches when all along it was the devil..... nt

[Hortensis]

16. Mostly tying up some loose ends already pulled by the courts, and at that

if any pardon was issued as part of a criminal act then it's not valid.

We also now know that the Mueller investigation was not allowed to investigate much of what MOST needed to be, including the worlds of counterintelligence and finance. Those investigations still need to be performed, and information provided by any leaker or investigative agent, such as foreign governments and journalists, could trigger action. I can't imagine how Trump could keep that from happening.