gemini104104
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If Trump pardons himself now, he’ll be walking into a trap
Self-pardons threaten the rule of law. The Justice Department would have to charge him.
Federal prosecutors in Washington say they may investigate whether President Trump broke the law Wednesday when he urged a crowd of his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn the election results shortly before a mob surged into the Capitol and disrupted the certification of the electoral college vote. The prospect of a seditious conspiracy charge — or any other — against Trump only increases the chances that the nation will enter uncharted legal territory soon. Unless the president plans to step down at the 11th hour of his term, allowing Vice President Pence to assume office and pardon him, he has only one option to shield himself from potential prosecution: a self-pardon.
But if Trump tries that, he will set in motion an endgame that may prove to be his own undoing.
He already faces criminal jeopardy on multiple fronts: The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York is in possession of evidence of a potential campaign finance violation that Trump may have committed before he became president. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III compiled evidence of multiple instances of obstruction of justice, outlined in his 2019 report. And Trump’s call last weekend to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger provides at least a basis to investigate possible violations of federal law against election fraud."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...2388fe-4f9d-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html
Self-pardons threaten the rule of law. The Justice Department would have to charge him.
Federal prosecutors in Washington say they may investigate whether President Trump broke the law Wednesday when he urged a crowd of his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn the election results shortly before a mob surged into the Capitol and disrupted the certification of the electoral college vote. The prospect of a seditious conspiracy charge — or any other — against Trump only increases the chances that the nation will enter uncharted legal territory soon. Unless the president plans to step down at the 11th hour of his term, allowing Vice President Pence to assume office and pardon him, he has only one option to shield himself from potential prosecution: a self-pardon.
But if Trump tries that, he will set in motion an endgame that may prove to be his own undoing.
He already faces criminal jeopardy on multiple fronts: The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York is in possession of evidence of a potential campaign finance violation that Trump may have committed before he became president. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III compiled evidence of multiple instances of obstruction of justice, outlined in his 2019 report. And Trump’s call last weekend to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger provides at least a basis to investigate possible violations of federal law against election fraud."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...2388fe-4f9d-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html