Former Mueller deputy predicts Trump will pardon himself if he doesn't win reelection

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by applegrove (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: The Hill

Andrew Weissmann, a deputy to former special counsel Robert Mueller, predicted that President Trump will pardon himself and several family members if he does not win reelection this November.

"I suspect strongly that if the president does not win reelection, that he is going to pardon a lot more people related to the Trump Organization, his family, people who work there, and even himself," Weissmann told NPR in an interview on his book tour. "That's obviously never been done. A president has never pardoned himself and that could be challenged by the Department of Justice if it decided it was going to go ahead with a criminal prosecution."

Weissmann did not specify for which specific actions he believed Trump would pardon himself.

Mueller's team investigated ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials and whether the president worked to obstruct the probe. It ultimately did not recommend any charges.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/former-mueller-deputy-predicts-trump-will-pardon-himself-if-he-doesnt-win-reelection/ar-BB1al6Qi?li=BBnb7Kz

[bullimiami]

1. States will be lining up to prosecute. Have at it.

[cstanleytech]

2. Funny thing is that in alot of the states he might end up serving more time as there would be

no pressure from the feds to either agree not to prosecute him at all or to give him a far lighter sentence for his cooperation.

[Captain Zero]

9. Would Trump ever flip on someone else if

It meant he had to admit HE did something wrong??

[Clearly fogged in]

11. In a strict sense, probably not.

But the mental gymnastics would drive him stark raving mad.

[KS Toronado]

35. He's already stark raving mad!

[cstanleytech]

38. If it was that vs losing all his wealth and access to the benefits it grants him then yes he

would flip.

[George II]

20. So far I have New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Florida. Any others?

[pnwmom]

21. He was involved in some sketchy banking thing in Illinois. nt

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. If so, it must be tested in court, not blindly accepted. Nt

[MFM008]

4. He

Is going to spend from November 4th until January 20th pardoning and screwing as much stuff up as he can including probably stealing all the B's off the typewriters.

[ashredux]

43. Naa...he would take the T's

[alwaysinasnit]

5. We shouldn't even have to have this discussion (about whether that POS can pardon himself).

[Sherman A1]

8. Agreed we shouldn't

but we are in a world with Trumpy Bear and that makes thing radically different.

[roamer65]

6. New York State will fire it up after a Dump loss, IMO.

They will get a head start.

Rename Trump Tower to Excelsior Tower.

[yaesu]

7. It will end up in the fascist supreme court where it will pass with flying colors. nt

[Xipe Totec]

10. To accept a pardon you must admit guilt

And you also lose your 5th amendment right not to testify.

[Rebl2]

17. Exactly

Wouldn’t he have to be found guilty of something to be pardoned?

[murielm99]

47. Nixon did not have to admit anything.

[Xipe Totec]

48. Implicitly he did by accepting the pardon

After Ford left the White House in 1977, he privately justified his pardon of Nixon by carrying in his wallet a portion of the text of Burdick v. United States, a 1915 U.S. Supreme Court decision that suggested that a pardon carries an imputation of guilt and that its acceptance carries a confession of guilt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon_of_Richard_Nixon#:~:text=His%20former%20press%20secretary%2C%20Ron,many%20to%20see%20him%20punished.&text=Ford%20eventually%20agreed%2C%20and%20on,any%20possibility%20of%20an%20indictment.

[tavernier]

57. Only democrats

[in2herbs]

12. My money is that, in the middle of the night after the election but before Jan 20th,

he'll give up the presidency, Pence will pardon him and off he goes. IMO that's an even better scenario than prosecuting him. With him in a country with no extradition we can try him for crimes in abstentia and confiscate all the assets of his companies. Same goes for the kids.

[DENVERPOPS]

15. There will need to be a whole fleet

of 747's to transport his entire administration, and all the RepubliCON House Members and Members of the Senate to a country with no extradition..........And don't forget all the uber wealthy who conspired with him to Grift government money during his administration.

You gotta know that for the last twenty years, this whole group of people have covertly "off-shored" their money to protect it from the U.S. Treasury........

[in2herbs]

51. We can go after his administration cuz I doubt they'd be leaving the country. Besides, trump will

protect only himself and leave the other swamp creatures to fend for themselves. Even if some in his administration leave the country they, too, can be tried in abstentia and their assets seized as well.

[NonPC]

52. 75 Days to Flee

I agree -- there is going to be the largest airlift this country has ever seen happening between November 3rd and January 20th.

All the grifters (Trump crime family, De Joy, McConnell, et al) will be packing up their treasures and heading off to a non-extraditing country before January 19th. Their money is already safely tucked away in the Caymens, Bermuda, Switzerland, Cyprus, and China. They will be laughing at us unless a US Attorney in some district decides to indite them and try to take their passports to prevent flight.

If these criminal acts occur, we will then find how long these slugs will ferment in their chosen sh$$y countries before they decide to take a vacation to a nice place. Then Interpol and the new DOJ will promptly apprehend them. The film should be priceless.

[Chemisse]

58. What if Pence SAID he would pardon him, but then didn't?

That would be extremely amusing.

[lettucebe]

13. You cannot be more above the law than pardoning yourself -- this is a NO

No way no how. No one, ever will be able to pardon themselves. Most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Guess it makes him feel better to think he can though.

[SharonClark]

14. K&R

[MrsMatt]

50. Trump has ignored norms and laws before

and has gotten away with it.

Seems logical that he'd get away with pardoning himself as well.

[DonaldsRump]

53. It's not ridiculous at all

In 1974, shortly before Nixon's resignation, his Chief of Staff Al Haig had the Justice Department look at the question of whether a President could pardon himself. Justice came back and said the Presidential pardoning power under the Constitution was total, and that included a self-pardon.

I'm not saying it's right, but that is what the US DoJ said 46 years ago.

[LiberalLovinLug]

55. Its too bad the founders did not imagine such a criminal getting elected.

That they would have written in a clause about self-pardoning.

[Lithos]

16. It would be interesting

To accept the pardon, he would have to admit to being guilty of various crimes. There is a very good chance this will also land him in trouble with one or more State laws effectively defeating any defense he might be able to generate. Ie, any Federal crimes surrounding Money Laundering and Financial things also involve crimes against states which also tax income.

[bucolic_frolic]

18. Self pardon is not what any American can do, it woud place us above the law

So I doubt it would hold up as legal.

[LiberalFighter]

19. The House needs to do another impeachment before he trys doing any pardons.

[TeamPooka]

22. accepting a pardon requires an admittance of guilt

[certainot]

23. that's good if he think htat will work as it will make him less desperate. whatever lawyer convinced

him it would work deserves a medal, although it could just be one of his dumbass advisers

[Galraedia]

24. Trump can't pardon himself for something he has not yet been charged and convicted of

and he won't be charged with anything until he is out of office.

[roamer65]

26. Bingo.

[leftieNanner]

28. Nixon was not formally charged with anything

And Ford gave him the Get Out Of Jail Free card on his way to Marine One.

[Galraedia]

33. Nixon did not pardon himself.

A president can’t be prosecuted for crimes while in office, so a pardon would only be of legal significance after he left office. Nixon resign before he could be impeached and was pardoned by Ford. The only chance that Trump has of receiving a pardon would be if he resigned and was given a pardon by Mike Pence. However, doing so would do more damage to Mike Pence than it ever did to Ford.

[leftieNanner]

34. Yep

Absolutely true.

[NYC Liberal]

36. Pence wouldn't care because his sole purpose for being president would be

the pardon. He'd be president for 24 hours. And I highly doubt that Pence will run for president in the future.

[JI7]

45. Pence is already far more damaged than Ford ever was

[BainsBane]

25. If it's never been done

It can damn well be ignored. Besides, it will have no effect in NY state.

[niyad]

27. I continue to hope that he will off himself when he loses, but he is too egotistical for that.

[leftieNanner]

29. And too much of a coward. nt

[reggaehead]

30. There is no possible way

He could remember all the crimes he has committed. But, those at DOJ will.

[orleans]

31. i believe he can go fuck himself

but he can't pardon himself

[world wide wally]

32. Trump won't take a chance on his pardon being over ruled.

My guess is that he will resign the first week of January so Pence can pardon him.

[Boogiemack]

37. Let him. What does he have to lose? he is an Impeached President,

and disgraced and disgraceful human being. His brand is in the swamp and he will never be able to overcome the facts of his failures (and neither will his supporters). I predict that if he loses he will not survive more than a year.

[Ohio Dem]

39. Are pre-emptive pardons even a thing?

Can a President pardon people for crimes they haven't even been indicted for, let alone convicted of? I'm not a lawyer, but I think he can pardon his ass off to little avail. It's a large ass, but still. I don't think that's how things work. Plus, don't you have to admit to the crime to accept a pardon? That's not going to do them ANY favors in State Court.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

40. Ford pardoned Nixon after he resigned

So yes one can.

Pardoning oneself however has never been done before.

[Ohio Dem]

41. Nixon had been impeached, but not convicted by the Senate yet, right?

Impeachment is essentially an indictment. My question is, "Can a President pardon a person for a crime that he or she hasn't been formally charged with?" Can a President pardon a person for crimes that have yet to be uncovered? With this bunch, I'm sure there are plenty of those.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

42. No

The House began impeachment hearings but Nixon resigned before it came to a vote.

[Ohio Dem]

54. Yeah, that's right. Thanks. nt

[ashredux]

44. Trump actually never Jokes...he is incapable...he floats out ideas

He has planned to possibly leave the country...most likely to Saudi Arabia or The United Arab Emirates

[Sherman A1]

46. The sooner he is gone the better

The scenario isn’t all that important in my opinion.

[honest.abe]

49. This would be an interesting case in SCOTUS.. if it ever got there.

Cant imagine even the hardest core RW judge would back Trump on this. Its completely outrageous and absurd.

[LiberalLovinLug]

56. So he could pardon himself for every federal crime on the books

And in so doing, be able to run again in 2024?

[Brainfodder]

59. Please proceed admitting your guilt, do we get a itemized list of the crimes?

I can hear: What about me? What about me?



Melanie, is that you?

I don't care, do you?

[applegrove]

60. After discussion with hosts ... LOCKING

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