3 ms·

> He pardoned a literal spy who was convicted of espionage of state secrets but he did not pardon Assange. Incredible. Assange and Snowden remain unpopular wit

by ardy42 6y ago

> He pardoned a literal spy who was convicted of espionage of state secrets but he did not pardon Assange. Incredible. Assange and Snowden remain unpopular with Senate Republicans, and my understanding is that he was told pardoning them would hurt his chances of avoiding a Senate conviction in his second impeachment. He was also recently steered away from pardoning himself, his family, and some Republicans that may have helped the capitol rioters (and he apparently got the message), but who knows if he'll change his mind in the next couple hours.

jolmg 6y ago
> He was also recently steered away from pardoning himself Is pardoning oneself legally possible? EDIT: Seems possible but never tested. > The Constitution provides little guidance on the issue of a potential presidential selfpardon. Only one sentence is dedicated to pardons: “The President . . . shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” Looking to historical precedent and case law likewise provides no dispositive answer. No president has ever issued a self-pardon, and very few Supreme Court cases have addressed any aspect of the president’s pardon power. -- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3587921 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3587921
- birdyrooster 6y ago
  Even if he could, I don't think he would want to. It would mean admitting guilt and opening himself to give testimony on the crimes in prosecuting others as well as emboldening civil lawsuits. Also, since its an ex-President and leader of a political party there is no way to punish him without it being political, which means the next President is likely to pardon him anyways for expediency.
  - birdyrooster 6y ago
    Andrew Johnson pardoned Jefferson Davis after the Civil War. Nuff said
s0cur10us 6y ago
I was under impression that the self-pardon story was part of the information warfare campaign. Is there any proof to the story?
- ardy42 6y ago
  > I was under impression that the self-pardon story was part of the information warfare campaign. Is there any proof to the that? Part of the what?
  - emreca 6y ago
    Information Warfare
    - ardy42 6y ago
      Just so you know, this isn't reddit, and joke replies are discouraged. I was looking for clarification about what "the information warfare campaign" was. I'm guessing it's some kind of post-hoc rationalization for a lot of Trump's bizarre statements and other distractions, but I'm not sure.
      - emreca 6y ago
        I’m sorry, my bad. You asked that question as if he/she (will just cal her/him X) is talking about the Big Foot so I couldn’t help myself. As for the information warfare part. The media on opposite sides tend to sensationalize their titles to manipulate the discourse for their benefit. In X’s comment, we can summarize information warfare as lies. So X thought that “Trump is going to pardon himself” titles are part of the informational warfare and Trump won’t actually do that. But now that X saw this HN thread, X said “was he even going to do that? Do we actually have a proof that he intends to do that? Or was it just a lie to shape public opinion further” Like the time Pelosi asks US generals if they keep Trump in check so that he can’t launch nuclear weapons. [0] Implying to the public that Trump is so crazy he can start a nuclear war. These type of things, shape public opinion over time. It is the same with Fox News shaping conservatives’ opinions about Biden. Or the NYT shopping global issues from a pool for Americans to get concerned with. It is standard propaganda and has been happening for decades. That’s why I think X’s skepticism is healthy and warranted. [0] https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-politics-nancy-pelosi-nuclear-weapons-26a9ddefe652ef413951110cc67bf10a https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-politics-nancy-pelos...

by ardy42 6y ago

jolmg 6y ago

> He was also recently steered away from pardoning himself Is pardoning oneself legally possible? EDIT: Seems possible but never tested. > The Constitution provides little guidance on the issue of a potential presidential selfpardon. Only one sentence is dedicated to pardons: “The President . . . shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” Looking to historical precedent and case law likewise provides no dispositive answer. No president has ever issued a self-pardon, and very few Supreme Court cases have addressed any aspect of the president’s pardon power. -- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3587921 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3587921

birdyrooster 6y ago
Even if he could, I don't think he would want to. It would mean admitting guilt and opening himself to give testimony on the crimes in prosecuting others as well as emboldening civil lawsuits. Also, since its an ex-President and leader of a political party there is no way to punish him without it being political, which means the next President is likely to pardon him anyways for expediency.
- birdyrooster 6y ago
  Andrew Johnson pardoned Jefferson Davis after the Civil War. Nuff said

s0cur10us 6y ago

I was under impression that the self-pardon story was part of the information warfare campaign. Is there any proof to the story?

ardy42 6y ago
> I was under impression that the self-pardon story was part of the information warfare campaign. Is there any proof to the that? Part of the what?
- emreca 6y ago
  Information Warfare
  - ardy42 6y ago
    Just so you know, this isn't reddit, and joke replies are discouraged. I was looking for clarification about what "the information warfare campaign" was. I'm guessing it's some kind of post-hoc rationalization for a lot of Trump's bizarre statements and other distractions, but I'm not sure.
    - emreca 6y ago
      I’m sorry, my bad. You asked that question as if he/she (will just cal her/him X) is talking about the Big Foot so I couldn’t help myself. As for the information warfare part. The media on opposite sides tend to sensationalize their titles to manipulate the discourse for their benefit. In X’s comment, we can summarize information warfare as lies. So X thought that “Trump is going to pardon himself” titles are part of the informational warfare and Trump won’t actually do that. But now that X saw this HN thread, X said “was he even going to do that? Do we actually have a proof that he intends to do that? Or was it just a lie to shape public opinion further” Like the time Pelosi asks US generals if they keep Trump in check so that he can’t launch nuclear weapons. [0] Implying to the public that Trump is so crazy he can start a nuclear war. These type of things, shape public opinion over time. It is the same with Fox News shaping conservatives’ opinions about Biden. Or the NYT shopping global issues from a pool for Americans to get concerned with. It is standard propaganda and has been happening for decades. That’s why I think X’s skepticism is healthy and warranted. [0] https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-politics-nancy-pelosi-nuclear-weapons-26a9ddefe652ef413951110cc67bf10a https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-politics-nancy-pelos...