A presidential pardon spree
Donald J Trump went on a presidential pardon spree which included more than ninety cronies, election campaign contributors, political enablers, convicted felons, and murderers.
A partial list: Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Charles Kushner, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, disgraced former congressmen Chris Collins, Duncan Hunter, and four Blackwater contractors who murdered more than a dozen civilians in Iraq.
Trump’s blanket pardons serve as a reward for silence or noncooperation with federal investigators, and retaliation for those government officials who applied the rule of law on behalf of the American public. But wait, there’s more.
As the denouement to this tragic play, Trump plans to issue preemptive pardons for his family and himself.
Having eroded so many institution of American democracy, Trump’s focus turns to a frontal assault on the Constitution by abusing the clemency powers afforded solely to the Office of the President.
But, this “transactional” president’s strategy may backfire on Trump, who rewarded their silence with implicitly dangled pardons, which is text book obstruction of justice.
When Trump leaves office, Manafort et al are subject to grand jury subpoenas if prosecutors decide to pursue additional information regarding obstruction of justice, or other evidence of Trump illegality.
Those whom Trump pardoned may try to plead protection under the 5th Amendment, in that case prosecutors could immunize them. They would then be allowed to testify, without fear of prosecution.
But, if they lie to the grand jury after Jan. 20, they would be committing new crimes not covered by Trump’s pardons.
Former Mueller investigator Andrew Weissmann says “the president can not necessarily pardon himself out of the obstruction criminal liability he faces federally.”
According to Trump’s former “fixer” Michael Cohen, Trump has over a billion dollars in mortgage debt, primarily owed to Deutsche Bank, along with mortgage obligations in two entities that he has a 30 percent interest in, but doesn’t control.
Based on his multiple interviews with the Justice Department, various state’s Attorney’s General and interviews with other investigators, Cohen claims that there is sufficient evidence to pursue civil and criminal charges against Trump and the Trump organization.
Cohen alleges violations of law including untruthful representations about Trump’s finances, tax returns, properties, and false loan statements; violations of law which he leveled at Trump during the 2019 Trump congressional impeachment hearing.
Given the slow pace of the justice system, and Trump’s attorney’s well practiced use of judicial delay in administrating said justice, Trump will likely never see the inside of a jail cell. And the financial institutions and others he owes money to will eventually write off those bad debts, thanks to generous bank tax legislation, bought and paid for by their bank lobbyists?
So, many of those who are disappointed by the slow machinations of the justice system may have to seek succor in divine judgment being meted out? Will that balance the celestial judgment scale against the preventable deaths of hundred of thousands of covid victims?
Will that empyrean judgment also include the Trump sycophants and enablers who thwarted efforts to control the covid virus, by opening restaurants, bars, and schools as the virus remained unchecked? Governors Ron Desantos, and Brian Kemp to name but two? Are those preventable Covid victim’s deaths weighed upon those governor’s heavenly justice balance scales, too?
Trump seems to think “if I can’t have a nice presidency, no one else can have one either.” He seems to have purposely fostered dysfunctional government.
In a desperate bid to stay relevant by calling for increasing Covid stimulus payments to $2,000, Trump threatened to veto the covid stimulus package and the National Defense Authorization Act just before Christmas, as he left town to play golf.
His veto stunt threatened to shut down the federal government, to say nothing of the holiday uncertainty inflicted on millions of financially stressed Americans?
In pretending to appear as the strong leader, Trump only demonstrated weakness by caving to pressure from GOP legislators to sign the covid relief bill just hours after it lapsed, which will delay payment to millions of workers. GOP senators will likely overturn Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act bill as well.
Mindful of his looming legal jeopardy, he continues to bilk his supporters, who have bought into the fantasy that his election was “stolen” due to the chicanery of the “deep state.”
With Trump, it’s all about the money. It was always about the
money.
The Trump presidency, indeed his entire life mythos is predicated on how he could profit in the moment while claiming credit for his business acumen. Which goes a long way to explain his serial lying?
It seems that hubris and deception are poor qualifications for a president in a democracy? Who knew?