In a move that makes it clear he and his family members are guilty of committing crimes, disgraced outgoing President Donald Trump is preparing a list of pardons for himself and his family members that he plans to issue the day before the inauguration.
There’s no question that Trump and most members of his administration have committed crimes over the last four years, including the instigation of an insurrection against Congress in an attempt to overturn the 2020 Election results.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that he and his administration are innocent, but if that were the case, he wouldn’t be prepping pardons for himself, his family, and staffers, including staffers who haven’t even been charged with crimes.
According to Bloomberg:
Preemptive pardons are under discussion for top White House officials who have not been charged with crimes, including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, senior adviser Stephen Miller, personnel chief John McEntee, and social media director Dan Scavino. The president’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, her husband, Jared Kushner, who both hold White House positions, are also under consideration. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has also discussed the issue of a pardon with the president.
The biggest question facing his legal team may be whether the president has the authority to pardon himself, as he has discussed in recent weeks with top aides, according to the people familiar with his conversations. Trump has previously claimed the power, though it’s a matter of legal dispute and has never before been attempted by a president.
Of course, Trump can’t pardon state crimes, which is probably why he and family are fleeing to Florida to avoid prosecution in New York.
Every single one of these pardons would also be an admission of guilt since they are preemptive. Not one of the people Trump is prepping pardons for have been charged with a federal crime yet. Furthermore, Trump cannot pardon himself. A 1974 Justice Department memo makes it clear that a president is not above the law and cannot self-pardon. The Supreme Court would be forced to come to the same conclusion because ruling otherwise would give Democratic presidents the same power, which means they could do whatever the hell they want without repercussions. The conservative majority on the high court wouldn’t want that now, would they?
It should also be pointed out that if Trump is impeached and removed from office before he can issue the pardons everyone he tried to prep them for would still be on the hook for potential criminal charges. Being impeached also renders pardons for insurrection invalid because the president cannot pardon in cases of impeachment.
Needless to say, these pardons should be invalid because they are corrupt and states across the country should open investigations of their own and arrest these people if they have an opportunity to do so. So should other countries. The United States government should also ship Trump and certain administration officials to The Hague for trial by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and other international violations. They must face justice one way or another, pardons be damned.
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