Legal problems galore await Donald Trump if he loses reelection and his presidential immunity
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-legal-troubles-possible-indictment-doj-mueller-new-york-2020-11?s=09President Donald Trump faces a potential wave of legal challenges should he lose the 2020 election and have to leave the White House and the immunity it has given him over the last four years.
Trouble likely awaits him from multiple places: federal- and state-level investigations, criminal and civil inquiries, and matters involving his businesses, political operations, and tenure as president.
But Trump could take perhaps the most dramatic step there is to avoid legal peril; he could try to issue a pardon to himself, or resign outright from the presidency during the lame-duck period and order his replacement Mike Pence to preemptively pardon him.
There's some precedent for such a move. President Gerald Ford sparked controversy in 1974 when he preemptively pardoned his predecessor Richard Nixon who had recently resigned from the White House in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.
But such gambits wouldn't inoculate Trump and his closest allies from potential fines and even jail time from any state-level challenges where a presidential pardon has no effect.
Bayard
(22,204 posts)Its not like he has any honor.
Back in the USSR!
King_Klonopin
(1,307 posts)someplace where he cannot be extradited.
I just realized why Trump has a bank account in China. The U.S. DOJ can only
sieze his assets in the U.S.; He stored up money in China as an emergency
"Fugitive from Justice" fund.
YessirAtsaFact
(2,064 posts)Corrupt intent.
I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that the president can't pardon someone from a crime that the president himself is also involved in.
YessirAtsaFact
(2,064 posts)I'm not sure I would want him to, but it would make more sense (for a rational DJT) to step down rather than continuing to cause trouble for 2 months and getting arrested at 12:01 p.m. on January 20, 2021
Earthshine2
(4,044 posts)Same for his grifter children. When the lawsuits hit, they will all be laying low.
3Hotdogs
(12,456 posts)I shouldn't laugh at the misfortune of others, but......
ronatchig
(575 posts)A good plan. Talk about an action coming back to bite you. I've always remembered the judges are lawyers too!