The real reason TFG needs to be indicted

[JMCKUSICK]

I haven't seen any posts addressing this angle.

The most important reason TFG needs to be indicted, (assuming evidence supports indictment), is that whoever comes after him, as a Magat, would trample all over the laws of our land knowing he/she has precedent in the DOJ hands off policy.

TFG has to be indicted to make it easier to indict the next one without the years of hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth that we've suffered through.
If there is no indictment, we are all massively screwed as a country and as a democracy.

[Ocelot II]

1. Ford's pardon of Nixon gave TFG implicit permission to keep on criming.

[Polybius]

4. But if he didn't pardon him, would he have won in '76?

I wonder.

[soldierant]

9. IIRC he first became President in 1969 (elected in 1968)

and was rele;ected in 1972 - thanks in part to Watergate having happened but not being known about yet. He would have served two terms by 76 and would not have been eligible to run or serve again.

As evil as Nixon was, he would not have raised an "army" to try to overturn the entire Constitution. His evil had limits. Since his time, Republican presidents have been getting worse and worse ... with every election.

Incidentally, I have seen a lot of written material addressing the OP's angle - toms of it - just maybe not here. And of course it appeared sort of obvious even before anyone said it.

[Whiskeytide]

16. I think the poster was musing that Ford might have won in '76 ...

… (instead of Carter) had he not pardoned Nixon. It certainly damaged him, and motivated the Left. Interestingly, an argument might be made that we wouldn’t have had Reagan if we had not had Carter. The gas crisis and the Iran Hostage crisis were to much for Carter to overcome (even though neither were his fault). If Ford had been president from ‘76-‘80, Carter or another Dem would likely have won in 1980 and Reagan would probably have ridden off into a fake Hollywood sunset.

[soldierant]

18. Oh, that makes sense. Interesting speculation.

[Rebl2]

7. YEP

[OLDMDDEM]

2. Well said, than you.

[Septua]

13. "I also think that every R that loses will file lawsuits,"

You can bet on that taking place. Some have already adopted Trump's attitude: "The only way I can lose is if the election is rigged."

They have tilted the scales in their favor with new election laws/procedures under the guise of "reducing irregularities" but will still cry foul if they lose. I can hear Kari Lake now: "Well, they did it again." But the rainbow at the end of the storm will be all the lawsuits thrown out, same as 2020.

Hopefully, everyone who wants to vote Blue, will have the opportunity and determination to do so. Then, let the lawsuits begin...

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Mary Trump may have a point...

Link to tweet

[Evolve Dammit]

6. Damn true. C'mon Garland. Indict the MFer

[czarjak]

8. Open Treason Season

[Joinfortmill]

10. Totally agree.

[UTUSN]

11. Because he's a bloody mobster?

[Dirty Socialist]

12. Not gonna happen

It’s not going to happen in this Land of Privilege. However, I think he will get fined heavily.

[Septua]

14. The reason Trump needs to be indicted is because...

..he has committed remarkable and extraordinary, 'high crimes and misdemeanors', the likes of which have never been seen...an indictment will not be a precedent. It will be a confirmation no one is above the law, including Presidents in or out of office. If the Republican Senators had been true patriots and supporters of Democracy, they'd have run his ass off when they had the chance.

[Picaro]

15. I was so wrong about Ford pardoning Nixon

In spite of my seething hatred of Nixon I approved of Ford pardoning Nixon.

The very 1st presidential election that I voted in I voted for Ford. I was an independent and really did not like Carter at the time. Got both of those decisions wrong. I should’ve been incensed that Ford pardon Nixon and Carter today is our best ex president. At least until Obama became an ex president.

I didn’t realize that that one decision was going to reverberate all the way to now. between that pardon and the OLC memo in 1973 about not inditing a sitting president essentially created a situation where presidents are considered to be above the law. There’s no law that says this but our behavior says that presidents are a different class.

that needs to be fixed. By inditing and prosecuting Trump. I think there’s an argument to be made for a requirement for another OLC memo that addresses the issue of inditing or prosecuting a president when the administration has become an ongoing criminal enterprise.

no one could’ve ever predicted that our constitution wouldn’t so completely fail us when one of the two parties became an anti-democratic cult. I could barely understand when they fail to convict him in the Senate after the Ukrainian incident. But when they failed to convict him after the January 6 insurrection I knew that all hope is lost in terms of Republicans acting like a normal party again

[Septua]

17. Compared to Trump...

..Nixon was petty shoplifter, caught sneaking a pair of socks out of Walmart.

Trump disrespected and desecrated the Presidential Office, the country and the people. He tried to invalidate an election, obstruct the peaceful transfer of power and overthrow the government. And he continues in his effort to take back the presidency, one way or another.

Nixon was just a mild tremor in the history of Presidential politics and underhanded politicians. Trump is an 8.0 quake...