Does anyone think it is at all unreasonable to suspect Donald Trump is and will be in the business of selling pardons, commutations, etc. as he has been in the business of selling other powers so disastrously given to him by the Electoral College, James Comey's intervention in the 2016 election and the quarter-century lie campaign against Hillary Clinton in the corporate and play-lefty media?
Thinking about that, can anyone in the world who saw his odd and inexplicable pardon of convicted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, convicted of using his position to try to sell a Senate seat possibly imagine that the life-long grifter, sleaze, con-artist and crook, Trump, with the crimes of Blagojevich laid out before him, didn't think of the possibility of selling presidential actions, including the one he was in the process of executing?
I suspect that there are a long list of those who Trump is hoping to say " I'd like you to do us a favor, though" to when the topic of pardons, commutations, clemency come up and in a lot of those, Mnuchin, Chao, Ross, Bernhardt, etc. I can well imagine there will be a "gentleman's agreement" or an outright bribe paid or some "favor" given or implied or asked for in return as each pardon is sought and granted.
The pardon power of the president is a hold-over from a time when there was marginally more stock put in honor or really, the mere appearance or conventional pretense of it than there is today. With Trump, as in the previous five Republican presidencies and, certainly after the Gingrich speakership in the Congress and that of Trent Lott in the Senate, that is gone, never to be recovered without a massive and not to be expected reform of the American character. I doubt it will come back without a reform of Hollywood and anyone holding out for that would more rationally expect Donald Trump to fall off his golf cart and rise up a converted follower of the Gospel.
The pardon power has to be removed from the president and others in regard to wrong doing that A. concerns members of his own administration, campaign, donors, etc. B. from members of his extended family. C. others as those appear, that removal of powers has to be removed from Constitutional granite and made contingent on the refusal of Congress to block them whenever there is a possiblity of self-interest in granting the pardon. To make pardons, in all cases exempt from review and reversal is insane. I have to wonder how many of those Founders who approved it in that form anticipated, perhaps, needing one in their future activities, for themselves.
Anti-nepotism laws have to be strenghtened and put into effect otherwise a Trump can put his criminal brats and their criminal, ganged up spouses into office from which they can commit crimes against the public interest, depending on daddy to give them a pardon at the end of the day. Ivanka and Jared and Don (Diaper Don) jr. and the rest of Trump's extended crime family should be the final straw in that matter. It was one of the worst things that the Kennedy family did when John Kennedy made his brother Attorney General. Whether or not Robert Kennedy did a good job, there were certainly others who would have done as good and probably many who would have done much better. It opened a door that should never have been opened for future presidents to do what Trump has done to such evil effect.
I won't get into the prospect of Trump pardoning his criminal gangster Attorney General, Barr. No, actually, I will get into it. I fully believe he is covering up for the crimes of his own family and likely himself - I fully believe that Jeffrey Epstein was procuring underage girls for Barr's father and likely others as he got his start in crime. I believe covering that up is why Epstein ended up dead in prison and his pimpess is reasonably believed to be in danger of hers. I hope the gal, witnessing her own father's crimes and "death" is smart enough to have some evidence stashed with the grantee that upon her death or disappearance it will be sent to Rachel Maddow or other members of the press. It's what I'd do if I'd led her life of crime. She shouldn't rely on a presidential pardon keeping her alive. I hope she's not that stupid that she is relying on that to keep her from committing "suicide".
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