Posted on 12/03/2020 5:45:15 AM PST by Kaslin
In the months leading up to the election, I was among the many conservatives who held out hope that federal prosecutor John Durham would get some indictments or at least release a report detailing the abuses of power the Obama administration and a cabal of deep-staters perpetrated against the Trump campaign and administration. It was not to be, for whatever reason. Since it’s unlikely to ever bring about any semblance of justice, President Trump should avail himself of all tools at his disposal to dispense as close to justice as we can get.
You’d think an investigation over the course of almost two years would be able to come to some kind of conclusion, one way or the other, but that seems less likely now. Maybe Durham found nothing, or maybe he’s faced obstruction; without indictments or at least a report, we’ll likely never know what was found.
But we do know what these people did. We know the Obama administration authorized spying on the Trump campaign and transition, we know the FBI lied to the FISA Court in order to legalize that spying. We know evidence contradicting liberal’s claims was withheld from the court in order to keep those FISA warrants going. And, even though they claim they had no idea they were signing off on warrants with incomplete and false information in them, these people are, or at least were supposed to be, responsible for the information in them.
The whole affair was either one of malice or gross incompetence, with either option irrelevant to the illegality of the action itself. It doesn’t matter if you broke the law deliberately or because you’re too stupid or lazy to notice, you broke the law.
Since those responsible have all moved on to lucrative cable news and book deals, firing them isn’t an option. And it is becoming clearer by the day that no legal ramifications are coming their way.
I say this with no joy and full knowledge that, as I wrote this, Attorney General Bill Barr announced that back in October he’d made Durham a Special Counsel. This gives some people hope, but it should not.
Sure, if Biden fired Durham while he was investigating his friends, potential administration employees, and possibly even him there would be outrage from conservatives, but who really cares about that? The people who’d point out the hypocrisy of leftists threatening to impeach President Trump over even having the thought to fire Robert Mueller would collectively amount to nothing. The people pushing to hold Biden to the same standard Democrats held Trump to would be ignored. The only people who’d notice are those of us who are already opposed to him. Fox News would report on it, but that’s preaching to the choir.
It’s a nice gesture, making Durham a Special Counsel, but futile in the end. If he doesn’t have anything by now, if he needs time beyond January 20, he’s wasting everyone’s time.
Even if he filed charges, if he got a grand jury to indict someone who deserved it, do you really think a Biden AG would prosecute that case? There would be delay after delay, lulling anyone not seriously following the case into completely forgetting about it. Then, on a long holiday weekend, they’d announce they’re dropping the charges. By the following Monday it would be like it never happened.
Pardons, on the other hand, are forever.
Yes, pardons can be refused. In 1833, George Wilson refused a presidential pardon, winning the right to do so in the Supreme Court, and was hanged. But the only cases in which pardons were refused involved people either convicted or was facing possible charges. Wilson was executed, and a newspaper editor in 1915, who also rejected a pardon, was ultimately held in contempt of court. Those are about the only examples of people refusing pardons.
The editor, George Burdick, refused a preemptive pardon from Woodrow Wilson in an attempt to get him to testify in a corruption case.
Both of those cases involved crimes that were working their way through the legal system, that is not the case with the possible Trump pardons. There are no convictions or charges, and likely nothing coming down the line. There would be no mechanism to affirm their refusal.
The pardon would follow them, along with the knowledge of their alleged crimes recorded, in painful and explicit detail in the pardon, the public record, for the rest of time.
Is the idea of preemptive pardons childish? Perhaps, or even probably. But the people behind “Crossfire Hurricane” should not be allowed to get away with it scot-free. Since they are very likely about to, I think this might be the best way to ensure they at least get some of the stench they very much deserve for their actions. If you’ve got a better idea, I’m all ears.
He should pardon himself and all his aides and family s he can run again w/o nonsense investigation.
No, he needs to hang his enemies from the highest tree and raffle tickets
Romans 12:20 speaks about this. Heap burning coals on their heads.
He would be ridiculed and laughed at, if he would do that. I would expect that from that arrogant pos former occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave Barack Hussein 0bama, but not from President Trump.
The fact that all of these snakes are being exposed is certainly an answer to my prayers. I have prayed that the Deep State be exposed, and every RINO be exposed, and every Beltway corrupt politician be exposed, The Democrats and crooked Republicans be exposed, etc., and we are seeing that. You can’t drain the swamp without emptying all of the water and exposing ALL of he Swamp Creatures and then ‘plucking them out’. Many have been frightened by what they are seeing, but now we can deal with it. It has always been there, slithering below the surface of the water.
If Trump leaves in January he faces a real dilemma with respect to pardons. There is almost no doubt the DOJ will investigate him, his family, and his organization in an attempt to find something to send him to jail for. If nothing else they will cause him to spend millions of dollars in legal fees and damage his business interests. The state of New York will do the same.
He can pardon himself and his family to remove the threat of a federal investigation and federal charges. However doing so will taint his name for history. A pardon will not insulate him from state charges. Should he pardon himself and family members, no doubt every Democrat governor and attorney general will launch investigations of Trump business interests and Trump family members.
Trump has upset the apple cart. The political establishment appears to have regained control through massive cheating. It now must ensure there is another Trump. What better way to do it than to destroy Trump’s life, his family and his businesses. No matter whether or not he pardons himself, he cannot protect himself from future actions. Expect he and his companies to be hounded for the rest of his life and beyond by the DOJ, FBI, IRS, and many states.
“Yes, pardons can be refused.”
And, in the examples cited, the men refusing were punished as determined.
In our time we have the ACLU, who fought Gary Gilmore to prevent him from accepting his death sentence. I’m sure there were high-minded, deluded fools way back then who wanted to save beloved criminals from their sentence, but they knew to keep their yaps shut.
“Maybe President Trump should pardon his enemies”.
Maybe President Trump should DESTROY his enemies.
He needs to pardon OBAMA that would drive them bonkers
No. After hanging his enemies in the middle of the White House lawn, their rotten bodies should be donated to a medical school anatomy class, so at least they’d have some use. Then toss ‘em into a pit.
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