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I suspect now that the custom (of pardoning and not prosecuting former and current political opponents) has been broken, we'll see a lot of prosecutions of poli

I suspect now that the custom (of pardoning and not prosecuting former and current political opponents) has been broken, we'll see a lot of prosecutions of political opponents in the future, because "lawfare" is now an established tactic. I don't think that's a good thing. Edit: How is it lawfare? The charges are based on a questionable, novel legal theory that no one has ever been prosecuted for before, as nonpartisan legal experts have observed from the beginning: “The bottom line is that it’s murky,” said Richard Hasen, an expert in election law and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles law school. “And the district attorney did not offer a detailed legal analysis as to how they can do this, how they can get around these potential hurdles. And it could potentially tie up the case for a long time.” https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictment-legal-analysis-bragg-election-law-3cf41eb0cc5de0146840a436e49cfccc https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictment-legal-analysis-b... And they ignored the statute of limitations in order to bring these charges several years late. When the prosecution starts ignoring the rules and inventing new legal theories for political ends, that's lawfare.

maxerickson 2y ago
What custom are you talking about?
- bcrosby95 2y ago
  The one time Nixon was pardoned by a member of his own political party.
  - leereeves 2y ago
    Also, for example, Republican special prosecutor Robert Ray granting criminal immunity to Bill Clinton at the end of his term. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/20/politics/exiting-job-clinton-accepts-immunity-deal.html https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/20/politics/exiting-job-clin... Or, going waaaaaay back, Andrew ~Jackson~ (I mean Johnson, thank you) granting pardons to all Confederates after the Civil War.
    - basementcat 2y ago
      I think you mean Andrew Johnson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardons_for_ex-Confederates https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardons_for_ex-Confederates
- church_ 2y ago
  [dead]
HaZeust 2y ago
They said the same about impeachments when Trump got 2 in a row, it has yet to happen to Biden. I wouldn't be so sure. Trump might be a precedent-breaking president because that's simply his essence.
rat87 2y ago
How is it lawfare when the suspect is guilty? If anything I hope this brings fewer criminal politicians. And more consequences for them.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
supertimor 2y ago
Why link an article from a year ago, before the trial was even scheduled? You cherry picked one quote ignoring the rest of the article that actually answers a lot of questions your quoted expert asks. << “The bottom line is that it’s murky,” said Richard Hasen, an expert in election law and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles law school. “And the district attorney did not offer a detailed legal analysis as to how they can do this, how they can get around these potential hurdles. And it could potentially tie up the case for a long time.”” If you continue to read further in the article you linked then you would see that the DA had an answer to that: <<“Bragg said the indictment doesn’t specify the potential underlying crimes because the law doesn’t require it.” But beyond that, the DA did offer an explanation to how they could move forward with charging Trump: <<“Falsifying business records can be charged as a misdemeanor, a lower-level crime that would not normally result in prison time. It rises to a felony — which carries up to four years behind bars — if there was an intent to commit or conceal a second crime. Bragg said his office routinely brings felony false business records cases. In Trump’s case, Bragg said the phony business records were designed to cover up alleged state and federal election law violations. The $130,000 payment to Daniels exceeded the federal cap on campaign contributions, Bragg said. He also cited a New York election law that makes it a crime to promote a candidate by unlawful means. “That is what this defendant did when he falsified business records in order to conceal unlawful efforts to promote his candidacy, and that is why we are here,” one of the case prosecutors, Chris Conroy, told the judge Tuesday. Prosecutors, however, also alluded to another accusation involving tax law: that Trump’s scheme included a plan to mischaracterize the payments to Cohen as income to New York tax authorities. “They did talk about tax crimes, and I think that could be potentially more compelling for the jury,” Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, said on ABC News. “It’s a safer bet than the campaign finance crimes.” Bragg is “going to bring in witnesses, he’s going to show a lot of documentary evidence to attempt to demonstrate that all these payments were in furtherance of the presidential campaign,” said Jerry H. Goldfeder, a veteran election lawyer in New York and the director of Fordham Law School’s Voting Rights and Democracy Project.” > And they ignored the statute of limitations in order to bring these charges several years late. Again, in the article you linked it explains how they were legally able to extend the statute of limitations for this case: <<There were some extensions during the pandemic, and state law also can stop the clock when a potential defendant is continuously outside the state.

maxerickson 2y ago

What custom are you talking about?

bcrosby95 2y ago
The one time Nixon was pardoned by a member of his own political party.
- leereeves 2y ago
  Also, for example, Republican special prosecutor Robert Ray granting criminal immunity to Bill Clinton at the end of his term. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/20/politics/exiting-job-clinton-accepts-immunity-deal.html https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/20/politics/exiting-job-clin... Or, going waaaaaay back, Andrew ~Jackson~ (I mean Johnson, thank you) granting pardons to all Confederates after the Civil War.
  - basementcat 2y ago
    I think you mean Andrew Johnson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardons_for_ex-Confederates https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardons_for_ex-Confederates
church_ 2y ago
[dead]

HaZeust 2y ago

They said the same about impeachments when Trump got 2 in a row, it has yet to happen to Biden. I wouldn't be so sure. Trump might be a precedent-breaking president because that's simply his essence.

rat87 2y ago

How is it lawfare when the suspect is guilty? If anything I hope this brings fewer criminal politicians. And more consequences for them.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

supertimor 2y ago

Why link an article from a year ago, before the trial was even scheduled? You cherry picked one quote ignoring the rest of the article that actually answers a lot of questions your quoted expert asks. << “The bottom line is that it’s murky,” said Richard Hasen, an expert in election law and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles law school. “And the district attorney did not offer a detailed legal analysis as to how they can do this, how they can get around these potential hurdles. And it could potentially tie up the case for a long time.”” If you continue to read further in the article you linked then you would see that the DA had an answer to that: <<“Bragg said the indictment doesn’t specify the potential underlying crimes because the law doesn’t require it.” But beyond that, the DA did offer an explanation to how they could move forward with charging Trump: <<“Falsifying business records can be charged as a misdemeanor, a lower-level crime that would not normally result in prison time. It rises to a felony — which carries up to four years behind bars — if there was an intent to commit or conceal a second crime. Bragg said his office routinely brings felony false business records cases. In Trump’s case, Bragg said the phony business records were designed to cover up alleged state and federal election law violations. The $130,000 payment to Daniels exceeded the federal cap on campaign contributions, Bragg said. He also cited a New York election law that makes it a crime to promote a candidate by unlawful means. “That is what this defendant did when he falsified business records in order to conceal unlawful efforts to promote his candidacy, and that is why we are here,” one of the case prosecutors, Chris Conroy, told the judge Tuesday. Prosecutors, however, also alluded to another accusation involving tax law: that Trump’s scheme included a plan to mischaracterize the payments to Cohen as income to New York tax authorities. “They did talk about tax crimes, and I think that could be potentially more compelling for the jury,” Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, said on ABC News. “It’s a safer bet than the campaign finance crimes.” Bragg is “going to bring in witnesses, he’s going to show a lot of documentary evidence to attempt to demonstrate that all these payments were in furtherance of the presidential campaign,” said Jerry H. Goldfeder, a veteran election lawyer in New York and the director of Fordham Law School’s Voting Rights and Democracy Project.” > And they ignored the statute of limitations in order to bring these charges several years late. Again, in the article you linked it explains how they were legally able to extend the statute of limitations for this case: <<There were some extensions during the pandemic, and state law also can stop the clock when a potential defendant is continuously outside the state.