“Time for Red States to practice lawfare to bleed Hunter dry financially? Let’s see how they respond to tit for their tat.”
Well, in effect, Hunter Biden has now effectively been given a license to steal at least hundreds of thousands of dollars from the federal tax coffers. You or I did 1/10th of that and got caught, at best, our lives would be hell until the amount and penalties were paid.
So, the states should just sit back and do nothing for their citizens who pay taxes, some, very heavy state taxes?
This isn’t a “lawfare” issue.
The Constitution gives the President of the United States broad pardoning power, with very few limitations.
By Rebecca Pirius, Attorney Mitchell Hamline School of Law Updated 12/10/2020
The U.S. Constitution states, "The President … shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment." (U.S. Const., art. II, § 2, cl. 1.) This language gives the president broad pardoning power, with very few limitations. (Schick v. Reed, 419 U.S. 256 (1974).) Moreover, the pardon power is the president's alone—the president's decision to grant a pardon cannot be overturned by Congress or the courts.
Presidential Pardon Power and Limits
The language in the Constitution highlights just two limits to the presidential pardon power. The president's authority extends only to offenses against the United States (federal crimes), meaning state crimes are beyond the president's control. And the president cannot circumvent Congress' power of impeachment. Beyond this, the president's power is restrained only within other constitutional limits. Let's explore these provisions further.
Federal vs. State Crimes
The President's power to pardon individuals extends only to federal—not state—crimes. Federal crimes generally involve federal or national issues, such as federal tax fraud, immigration violations, counterfeiting U.S. currency, and wire fraud. Most crimes are actually prosecuted at the state level, such as murder, sexual assault, and theft (as long as the crime doesn't cross state lines, at which points it becomes a federal crime). The president does not have the authority to pardon state offenses—that power is reserved for state governors. (Because state prosecutions are beyond the reach of presidential pardons, they can serve as an indirect check on the presidential pardon power.)
There are two (three actually - 2 in N.Y. 1 in Georgia) open state lawfare issues currently hanging over Trump's head. Time to up the ante. If nothing else, discussing the merits make make a difference as well. they cannot get away with the lawfare they have engaged in, for they will just do them again when they get back in power.
Trump would have no direct involvement in them whatsoever.