How President Trump’s Pardon Frenzy Might Backfire!
[AdSense-A]
By Nikki Slusher
Donald Trump is no stranger to doing things his own way. We have had almost a half decade of his unprecedented actions while in the Oval Office. There has been multitudinous amounts of executive orders and vetoes when he didn’t get his way. He has also used the power of his office to help his loyal followers in their legal troubles. For instance, Trump has commuted sentences for long-time allies, like Roger Stone, and plenty of pardons for anyone the president deems as a subject of a witch hunt including his former national security advisor Michael Flynn and former campaign advisor George Papadopoulos.
It is not to be forgotten that although these pardons and commutations for the president’s inner-circle has drawn much of the media and public’s attention, there have been instances where he has used these powers properly that many of us would agree with. This includes numerous grants of clemency for individuals who were incarcerated for non-violent drug-related crimes – many specifically for possession of marijuana which is now legalized in 35 states, including D.C. and Guam too. Two former Border Patrol agents were also given pardons for their involvement in the shooting death of an alleged drug trafficker. Both had received commuted sentences under former President George W. Bush.
Most Americans will agree that these pardons are legitimate, but it is the other pardons being handed out that has raised the alarm in the Trump administration.
As of yesterday, the president’s pardon frenzy has gained another 20 names to the list and are not likely to be the last before Donald Trump leaves office on January 20th. The pardons and clemency include two people who pleaded guilty in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia inquiry, three former GOP members found guilty of high-profile corruption and scandals while in congress, and four Blackwater guards who were convicted in connection to killings of Iraqi citizens.
The pardons related to Mueller’s investigation are a signal of more to come for other people involved in the Russia inquiry throughout the next few weeks. The three-former congressman pardoned by the president – Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA), Chris Collins (R-NY), and Steve Stockman (R-TX) – whose convictions include misusing campaign funds, making false statements to the FBI, conspiring to commit securities fraud, and money laundering, all received full pardons prior to and during their incarceration.
As for the four Blackwater guards who were also pardoned yesterday, each had been convicted for murdering Iraqi civilians while working as contractors in 2007. Furthermore, the Justice Department went to great lengths specifically to prosecute one of the men. Nicholas Slatten had been sentenced to life in prison for his role in killing 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad. Among the dead were two boys, ages 8 and 11. The massacre permanently stained the United States and the war against it.
After the announcement of the pardons, Trump immediately faced harsh criticisms for the decision. Marla Hurtado, spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office, expressed the many concerns over pardoning the guards stating that it “contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future”.
“The UN Human Rights Office calls on the US to renew its commitment to fighting impunity for gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law, as well as to uphold its obligations to ensure accountability for such crimes,” she added. Similarly, Hina Shamsi, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project commented that the president’s latest actions “hit a disgraceful new low with the Blackwater pardons”. “President Trump insults the memory of the Iraqi victims and further degrades his office with this action,” Shamsi added.
While President Trump has the complete authority to carry out these powers, it’s important that we remember how it may come to haunt him in the end. In the upcoming weeks, most predict we will see pardons for Trump’s three eldest children, their spouses, and others close to the president. If these predictions turn to reality there will be a lot of outrage to come; however, this may be the blessing in disguise we needed.
A pardon may prevent someone from federal charges, however, people who have been pardoned lose their constitutional protection under the Fifth Amendment as they can’t self-incriminate themselves since they are no longer under any legal jeopardy. Simply put, anyone pardoned by Trump will lose their 5th Amendment protections. This means that it would be easier for the DOJ and Congress to call upon the pardoned individuals to give compelling testimony against other incriminated family members and staffers; ultimately resulting in the high likelihood of the president incriminating himself.
Since Trump was impeached, he cannot pardon himself, but as he continues to dabble and unleash his temper with bizarre pardons and clemencies we are only starting to get to the best part of his downward spiral. Even better is the possibility of his own children being called to the witness stand to reveal all the hush-hush, behind the door scenes that weren’t shown to the public or were just shot down as fake news.
Nothing screams hitting rock bottom like the thought of Ivanka testifying to congress about what Putin really has on daddy dearest. One can dream, right?
Whatever ends up happening is still to come. Only time will tell whether Trump pardons his children and advisors or if he will help out a few more GOP buddies, like the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and then hit the road.
No matter what happens, on January 20th New York’s Attorney General Letitia James is coming for the impeached former President with 61 indictments to snatch that low-grade toupee off his very large and empty head.
[si-contact-form form=’2′]