Pardon Me ...

Obviously, I am not a lawyer.  But I do have some legal thoughts about Rudy Giuliani's comment that President Trump could pardon himself if need be. My logic also involves the answer to another conumdrum -- whether a president can be indicted. I think this is clearly unconstitutional because the constitutional cure is impeachment for "high crimes, etc."

Let's assume that President Trump invites James Comey to the White House where he shoots him dead.  He cannot immediately be indicted for this crime. Constitutionaly he would first have to be impeached by the House and then convicted in the Senate to be removed from office (a process I am pretty certain that SCOTUS would not permit him to pardon himself from.) This should be a very quick event. Only then could he be indicted and brought to justice in our regular criminal system.

But here is the rub. Trump could not then pardon himself because he no longer would be president. And, I could be wrong, but I don't think that Trump could give himself a prospective pardon ... before the above die process was completed ... while he was still president.

Therefore, all this hot air about him pardoning himself is just that ...hot air.

Pardon Me?

Trump's best line at the Catholic charities event a few weeks back was the one about Hellary bumping into him and saying, "Pardon me?" Now, she has lost the election and he is soon to be confronted with this choice. It is clear to most Americans that this woman is guilty of many serious transgressions. The aura of years of malfeasance hangs over her like that cloud of dust around Pigpen. She has skated through life ignoring all the ethical and legal boundaries and never really been punished for it ... except of course by losing two attempts at the presidency. But she has also been richly rewarded financially for her arrogant flaunting of our laws.

But is her punishment enough that she has been twice denied the big POTUS prize? This is the decision that Trump will have to make ... unless of course Obummer makes it for him ... which I consider quite unlikely ... due to his obsession with his legacy. Like always, Obummer prefers to let others do the dirty work. But even if this happens, I believe that the Clinton Foundation and its bevy of capos should be prosecuted with the full might of Trump's Justice Department and his IRS.

The question then presents itself ... what if Obummer doesn't let Hellary off the hook? My answer is simple. If Trump pardons her, then he will be sending a clarion message to his voters that he is (re)joining the Establishment ... the very people he opposed in this past election. As THE agent of change, showing mercy to this evil, evil woman  would be the Christan thing to do, but not the right thing to do. This past election was not just the Globalists versus the Nationalists ... it was also the Establishment against the crockery breakers, the Populists. Thus, a presidential pardon would also send too clear a message to future politicians that laws are for little people ...and Republican campaign promises are also will o' the wisp.

Pardon Me

On March 1^st (coincidence?), President Obama pardoned 17 criminals, including one with a serious firearm conviction (see below ... the penultimate pardon).  Like the release of thousands of illegal immigrants before the sequestration, can we assume that this was an act to save our government money?  Or just to annoy us?  Is cronyism involved?  Or perhaps political contributions? Wouldn’t it be nice if the President were required to give his justification for each pardon?  (President Lincoln issued quite a few pardons, but I think he gave his reasons in most all the cases.)  Anyway here is the list from the White House via Politico:

·    Robert Leroy Bebee – Rockville, Maryland. Offense: Misprision of a felony, 18 U.S.C. § 4. Sentence:  Two years probation.
·    James Anthony Bordinaro – Gloucester, Massachusetts. Offenses: Conspiracy to restrain, suppress, and eliminate competition in violation of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1; conspiracy to submit false statements, 18 U.S.C. § 371. Sentence:  12 months imprisonment, three years supervised release and a $55,000 fine.
·    Kelli Elisabeth Collins – Harrison, Arkansas. Offense: Aiding and abetting a wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2. Sentence:  Five years probation.
·    Edwin Hardy Futch, Jr. – Pembroke, Georgia. Offense: Theft from an interstate shipment, 18 U.S.C. §§ 659, 2. Sentence:  Five years probation, $2,399.72 restitution.
·    Cindy Marie Griffith – Moyock, North Carolina. Offense: Distribution of satellite cable television decryption devices, 47 U.S.C. § 605(e)(4), 18 U.S.C. § 2. Sentence:  Two years probation with 100 hours of community service.
·     Roy Eugene Grimes, Sr. – Athens, Tennessee. Offenses: Falsely altering a United States postal money order, 18 U.S.C. § 500; passing, uttering, and publishing a forged and altered money order with intent to defraud, 18 U.S.C. § 500. Sentence:  18 months probation.
·    Jon Christopher Kozeliski – Decatur, Illinois. Offense: Conspiracy to traffic counterfeit goods, 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 2320. Sentence:  One year of probation with six months of home confinement, $10,000 fine.
·    Jimmy Ray Mattison – Anderson, South Carolina. Offenses: Conspiracy to transport and cause the transportation of altered securities in interstate commerce, 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 2314; transporting and causing the transportation of altered securities in interstate commerce, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2314, 2. Sentence:  Three years probation.
·    An Na Peng – Honolulu, Hawaii. Offense: Conspiracy to defraud the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 18 U.S.C. § 371. Sentence:  Two years probation, $2,000 fine.
·    Michael John Petri – Montrose, South Dakota. Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance (cocaine), 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a), 846. Sentence:  Five years imprisonment, three years supervised release.
·      Karen Alicia Ragee – Decatur, Illinois. Offense: Conspiracy to traffic counterfeit goods, 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 2320. Sentence:  One year of probation with six months of home confinement, $2,500 fine.
·     Jamari Salleh – Alexandria, Virginia. Offense: False claims upon and against the United States, 18 U.S.C. §§ 287, 2. Sentence:  Four years probation, $5,000 fine, $5,900 restitution.
·     Alfor Sharkey – Omaha, Nebraska. Offense: Unauthorized acquisition of food stamps, 7 U.S.C. § 2024(b)(1). Sentence:  Three years probation with 100 hours of community service, $2,750 restitution.
·     Donald Barrie Simon, Jr. – Chattanooga, Tennessee. Offense: Aiding and abetting in the theft of an interstate shipment, 18 U.S.C. §§ 659, 2.  Sentence:  Two years imprisonment, three years probation.
·     Lynn Marie Stanek – Tualatin, Oregon. Offense: Unlawful use of a communication facility to distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 843(b).          Sentence:  Six months in jail, five years probation conditioned on residence in a community treatment center for a period not to exceed one year.
·     Larry Wayne Thornton – Forsyth, Georgia. Offense: Possession of an unregistered firearm, 26 U.S.C. §§ 5861(d), 5871; possession of a firearm without a serial number, 26 U.S.C. §§ 5861(i), 5871. Sentence:  Four years probation.
·     Donna Kaye Wright – Friendship, Tennessee. Offense: Embezzlement and misapplication of bank funds, 18 U.S.C. § 656. Sentence:  54 days imprisonment, three years probation conditioned on performance of six hours of community service per week.