Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/05/15/biden-i-will-not-pardon-trump.html
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There has to be some crime or other conviction to which a pardon applies. Pence could not, say, issue a “blanket pardon” that applies to all future convictions. It has to be present. Therefore, Trump is still fucked.
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Since Biden is intrepid enough to announce this controversial stance, I’d like to make a few confessions of my own. I’m against genocide, child slavery and…and…even lima beans. I know, I know. This will surely result in my eternal shame and humiliation, but if Biden can find the courage not to pardon Hair Fuhrer, surely we must live up to that beacon. /s
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Good thing that’s never happened before, and certainly not with anyone named Ford or Nixon. 
/s
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This should have gone without saying, but at least Biden said it.
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So for Trump it’s either gonna be win/steal this election or attempt to run off to Russia or south america?
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I think that’s pretty much it.
If he doesn’t win outright and can’t steal it, his only play to avoid imprisonment is
- Resign a few days before Inauguration day
- Collect his blanket pardon from Pence for all federal crimes
- Spend the rest of his life in exile in some country with a friendly dictator and no extradition treaty to the US
My money is on North Korea, just sayin’
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Except that is exactly the Pardon Ford gave Nixon, a Blanket Pardon.
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The nightmare is Trump isn’t convicted of anything, and remains a permanent fixture on Fox News/Today Show. I just want him to go away and I would not be sad if I never heard his voice or saw his face again.
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Three things:
- Trump will not step down and let Pence pardon him. That would be viewed as weakness, and he cannot abide even the idea of weakness.
- He has maintained almost since day one of his Presidency that his power is absolute, and that includes pardoning himself. He’s definitely arrogant enough to try - and if he does this is absolutely going to end up in front of the Supreme Court.
- Even if he is successfully given a Presidential pardon, he’s still fucked because it does not apply to any crimes committed at a state level. The day he stops being President is the day he’s going to be arrested for crimes committed in New York. And there’s a good chance there’s a few other states just waiting to charge him, too.
Really, fleeing to Russia and hiding out there is his best chance. But I’m not so sure Putin is going to care about a disgraced pawn that has outlived his usefulness…
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Maybe ⊥rump needs to start paying more attention to the intelligence briefiengs…
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The main question is that fleeing in Russia will mean to depart from his money or not. Because Russians could be interested in having some real estate in the US. They could offer a golden cage in Moscow or St.Petersburg in change of a partnership.
In the other case the cage will not be golden and will be in Vladivostok or Omsk.
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I doubt he would a take a number 2 because it’s basically a turd sandwich. A liberal congress can still find plenty of ways to go after him after Pence leaves office.
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If Trump does lose, is there anything (other than paranoia) preventing him from resigning early in the expectation that his Vice President, Mike Pence, would briefly succeed him and pardon him before the winner took office?
@Wally is technically correct that a pardon should only apply to specific charges, and also everybody else is correct that we apparently gave up on that principle with Nixon.
However, still on the table, and something somebody needs to explain very, very slowly to Trump is that accepting a pardon is, legally, an admission of guilt, and any privilege one might choose to assert against testifying, including the Fifth Amendment, goes right out the window. If he accepts a blanket pardon for any crimes he might have committed in office, he opens the door to compulsory testimony on any acts he committed in office. Additionally the pardon cannot extend to future criminal acts, such as lying to the FBI, perjury or contempt of Congress.
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You know New York State is going to inspect every piece of documentation they can dig up on the Trump empire with a view to ruining the various businesses and seizing every cent they can. California and a few others will also be deeply involved.
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My only hope at this point is that there is a mountain of sealed indictments in NY, MD & D.C.
Well, that and also when he tries to suspend the election, people turn out in the streets and drag him out by his collar. Capitol police, secret service, US Army… anyone. I don’t have a lot of faith in any of that happening, though.
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He still has a following of Americans who are immune to facts and would fail grade school civics classes. So he could be useful as a tool to spread misinformation and chaos in the states, possibly through a Trump TV channel, forever whining about persecution at the hands of liberals.
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at a time like this, i believe we should all strive for unity. and the anti-lima bean sentiment is wrong on a couple of levels. first off – it is not productive. second – they are delicious.
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