45th President of the United States, Donald Trump (Vol. 9)

[Byker28i]

David Gura
@davidgura
Pardons by trump, Joseph Arpaio, Scooter Libby, Dinesh D'Souza, Michael Milken, Bernard Kerik, Rod Blagojevich, and now, Roger Stone.

Bill Pascrell, Jr.
@BillPascrell

Unrepentant racist
Leaked natl security secrets
Campaign finance cheat
Junk bond kingpin
Used 911 relief station as a love nest
Tried to sell a senate seat
Threatened witnesses

This is who trump protects.

This is also a roster of who the republican party serves. It isn’t you.

[moffspeed]

It’s not too difficult to imagine Trump, Hannity and Carlson feverishly composing that Stone statement over a conference call. The exclamation mark at the end says it all.

The pardon was depressingly predictable as the USA slides into dictatorship. Dark times.

[Byker28i]

Daniel Goldman, former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the SDNY, and current NBC News legal analyst, tweeted this:
Daniel Goldman
@danielsgoldman
Stone told Trump in advance abt Wikileaks dumps and lied to Congress to cover for him. And he’s now made it known he could flip on Trump.
Only one explanation for this blatant corruption makes any sense: Trump has given up on reelection and is just trying to save his own hide.

Trump was simply faced with the no-win choice of doing nothing and letting Stone leak criminal dirt on him, or harming his reelection prospects in order to keep Stone quiet. Roger Stone strongly hinted to NBC News that he had criminal dirt on trump, and that he wanted his prison sentence commuted in exchange for keeping quiet about it.



So now we know trump is also compromised by stone.

Remember Barr doesn't want this as it's expected this will be challenged in court, could well be overthrown, thus wreaking Barrs chance of a pardon. There was already a constitutional question as to whether a president could pardon or commute his alleged co-conspirator. Now there will be a constitutional question about whether a president can pardon or commute someone who is openly blackmailing him into doing it.

There are still outstanding charges that Barr blocked and also SDNY have charges pending after Stones NY appartment was raided.

[Byker28i]

And before all that...
Yesterday Judge Emmet Sullivan formally asked the entire U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling that Michael Flynn’s criminal case must be thrown out. The U.S. Court of Appeals has granted Judge Sullivan’s request to hear the case. This is half the battle, as the court could have simply denied Sullivan’s request to hear the case.


Former federal prosecutor
Glenn Kirschner
@glennkirschner2
This is good news. The entire DC Circuit Court of Appeals (all judges) will reconsider the split (2-1) opinion of the 3-judge panel that directed Judge Sullivan to dismiss Flynn’s case. I strongly suspect the full court will get it right, allowing the case to continue.

[Byker28i]

Also Commerce Department IG Peggy Gustafson issued a report lambasting the Trump administration for the Sharpiegate fiasco.

Gustafson released her report after the Commerce Department held it up for several days following an investigation into the mess Trump created when he defaced a map to erroneously place Alabama in Hurricane Dorian’s crosshairs in September 2019. The report blasts Trump’s Commerce Department for leading a deeply “flawed process” that let politics interfere with science, “discounting” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) critical role.

Specifically, the report detailed the “poor judgment” the Commerce Department displayed by forcing NOAA to issue an unsigned statement to refute a 5-day-old tweet about Dorian’s path merely to mollify Trump’s fragile ego. Dr. Neil Jacobs, NOAA’s acting chief, told the IG that “things went crazy in the middle of the night” after the White House pressured NOAA to release the statement, and that employees “definitely felt like our jobs were on the line.”

[Eric Mc]

Note that a sentence commutation is not the same as a pardon.

If Trump had been riding higher in the polls, I expect Stone would have received a full pardon.

[Byker28i]

Eric Mc said:

Note that a sentence commutation is not the same as a pardon.

If Trump had been riding higher in the polls, I expect Stone would have received a full pardon.

See above. Stone wanted commutation as a pardon assumed guilt

[98elise]

vonuber said:

The fact the power is there anyway is extraordinary.

Mind you, America was founded by the rich to benefit the rich.

Agreed. It's not a justice system if you can get let off if you're mates with el Presidente.

[Eric Mc]

Byker28i said:

Eric Mc said:

Note that a sentence commutation is not the same as a pardon.

If Trump had been riding higher in the polls, I expect Stone would have received a full pardon.

See above. Stone wanted commutation as a pardon assumed guilt

Commutation also assumes guilt. The court conviction has not been quashed, only the sentence.

[Byker28i]

98elise said:

vonuber said:

The fact the power is there anyway is extraordinary.

Mind you, America was founded by the rich to benefit the rich.

Agreed. It's not a justice system if you can get let off if you're mates with el Presidente.

At a time his polls are dropping rapidly, it opens a whole new avenue of attack for the Dems. remember, trump campaigned on draining the swamp, instead he's been proven to be compromised many times by many people and countries.

Has he thought far ahead or just in the immediate as usual? This will cause him real issues with the electorate, or is he gambling it's not as bad as the whole truth coming out from Stone?

[Centurion07]

98elise said:

vonuber said:

The fact the power is there anyway is extraordinary.

Mind you, America was founded by the rich to benefit the rich.

Agreed. It's not a justice system if you can get let off if you're mates with el Presidente.

Am I not right in saying our prime minister has the same power...?

[Derek Smith]

I know we've all been expecting Trump to pardon/commute the sentence of Stone, but it still comes as a shock. It's full on corrupt now; no smoke, no mirrors. It's an American president showing he has no morals, no scruples, no self respect.

Strangely, I'm embarrassed, like a friend whose been caught out in a dishonest act against other friends. There's the feeling that you'll never be able look on them in the same way again. Now the sham has been revealed. What a shambles.

The real indictment might come in November.

[Blackpuddin]

He did drain the swamp, but only to make room for his own swamp dwellers.
Who will play the part of Trump in the Oliver Stone movie when this is all over and done with?

[Derek Smith]

Centurion07 said:

Am I not right in saying our prime minister has the same power...?

I didn't feel quite so disgusted when Turing was pardoned.

It's the Queen's prerogative. Mind you, I remember reading that protocols weren't followed with Turing.

I feel a Google coming on.

[The Hypno-Toad]

Blackpuddin said:

He did drain the swamp, but only to make room for his own swamp dwellers.
Who will play the part of Trump in the Oliver Stone movie when this is all over and done with?

Already cast, Alec Baldwin.

[Derek Smith]

The Royal Prerogative is not quite as simple or straightforward as I suggested. Lawyers, eh?

Go to https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice-points/the-r... for an interesting, and mercifully short, precis of what the Queen can do and what the HomSec can do.

[Blackpuddin]

The Hypno-Toad said:

Blackpuddin said:

He did drain the swamp, but only to make room for his own swamp dwellers.
Who will play the part of Trump in the Oliver Stone movie when this is all over and done with?

Already cast, Alec Baldwin.

He'd be the obvious choice for sure.

[llewop]

Derek Smith said:

I know we've all been expecting Trump to pardon/commute the sentence of Stone, but it still comes as a shock. It's full on corrupt now; no smoke, no mirrors. It's an American president showing he has no morals, no scruples, no self respect.

Strangely, I'm embarrassed, like a friend whose been caught out in a dishonest act against other friends. There's the feeling that you'll never be able look on them in the same way again. Now the sham has been revealed. What a shambles.

The real indictment might come in November.

There is an element of a surreal real world remake of 'The Untouchables' about it all and November will be the pivotal time:

If Covid has dropped away by then and the US economy is bouncing back (which is a big IF) then Trump may be able to spin greener grass to drag in some extra support. He's always going to get the Republican-to-the-core vote as for many, no matter how scary he is, still 'better than the other side'.

But there are still some strange scenarios that could play out: he loses, but refuses to leave (how do you evict a President?) or finds some contrived and dubious grounds for postponing the election (for instance Covid still raging through the country) - where does that take them? From what I've read, that does seem an option according to the constitution, but doesn't mean he won't try.... he's clearly not too fussed about some parts of it anyway!

[Byker28i]

I don't think he can postpone. Too many States are getting mail-in voting in place as a priority, voters registering for mail in voting etc.

[llewop]

Byker28i said:

I don't think he can postpone. Too many States are getting mail-in voting in place as a priority, voters registering for mail in voting etc.

I don't either, but doesn't mean he won't try.

I'm sure I've heard before from one of the family that he 'deserves' a couple more years anyway due to some bonkers reason. If it does come to pass that he does win (which is currently unlikely, but it is only a 2 horse race), you can bet he'd at least float the idea of ditching the 2 term limit.