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  #1  
Unread 01-17-2021, 07:04 AM
Jim Moonan Jim Moonan is offline
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Default 72 Hours

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I know this thread has a life expectancy of a gastrotrich, but I thought it might be cathartic to speculate what more Trump will do to cement his legacy in the 72 hours he has left. (Hopefully no more harm).
What will he do? Or is he done? Pardons are about all he has left (though he has unleashed violence and now that it is out of the barn there’s no telling how or when we can quell it and put it back).

Soon we will know.

As for pardoning himself (WTF?) here is the act of presidential pardons explained and how it has been used historically.

Here is an excerpt:

“So far as I know, in all of Anglo-American history, no monarch, royal governor, president, or other executive officer has tried to pardon himself. The reason, I think, is that the idea of a self-pardon is so antithetical to the constitutional structures of England and the United States, and to the purpose that executive pardon power serves in those structures, that no one has ever had the effrontery to try it. A president who tried to pardon himself would not be relying on some deep, if heretofore unappreciated, reservoir of constitutional authority. He would instead be trying to slither through a heretofore untried loophole. In the case of an ordinary criminal defendant, one might merely shrug at the audacity of the dodge. But a miscreant president is no ordinary malefactor. And permitting presidential self-pardons would not merely allow individual miscarriages of justice, but would erase a structural barrier to tyranny. I do not believe the Supreme Court would countenance that result.”


If he goes out with a flair of military pomp and circumstance and to the tune "Hail to the Chief" I will throw up.


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Unread 01-17-2021, 10:57 AM
Coleman Glenn Coleman Glenn is offline
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If we’re just speculating, my guess is relative silence until Thursday, then a loud effort to get out ahead of the angry mob of conspiracy theorists who were convinced he’d institute martial law for them. So, after the inauguration, promotion of Trump Media, promises of election reform, promises to keep fighting so they can win back the government in FAIR elections next time, etc. But really, who knows?
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Unread 01-17-2021, 11:25 AM
Jim Moonan Jim Moonan is offline
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Yeah, I guess you're right. He could fly off in any number of directions. I was thinking specifically of the 72 hours between now and the inauguration of Biden/Harris. Will he remain silent? Is he "done here"? If not, what will he say, how will he say it, and will it be to help the nation heal or to further divide it? Will he preemptively pardon himself? His family? But mostly, will he reveal anything more of his true feelings or will that all be saved for the launch of his post-presidency?

If we're talking about post-presidency, I think he will attempt to parlay his massive twitter cult-followers into a new social media platform – Probably called MAGA or Trump/MAGA or something along those lines. It will become the home for homegrown terrorists.

I hope with every fiber of my being that the senate convicts him of inciting the insurrection at the Capital Bldg..

I anticipate and am giddy about the prospect that there will be numerous lawsuits that will become active again.

I think the Trump Organization will suffer short-term (it has already begun) but it's hard to say what he will do to attempt to resurrect his swindling empire.

There's a tidal wave of other things that could happen... Giuliani could turn on him... e could leave the country (Scotland Watch out!)

Personally, with regard to his role in the Capital insurrection, I think something is rotten in Denmark. There is an interesting aspect that has come to light. To the best of our knowledge, he was not whisked away by Secret Service to a safe haven when the Capital riots broke out. He remained ensconced in his man cave tweeting and smiling. Why? Didn't secret service usher him down to the shelter in the basement during the BLM protests in Washington D.C. this past summer? Something's not right.

Anyway, the clock is ticking. But when the final tick of his president y comes and goes on Wednesday at High Noon, it will not end the danger he's fomented. He'll leave that as his calling card. He's not going away if he can help it. Just changing his clothes.
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Last edited by Jim Moonan; 01-17-2021 at 11:28 AM.
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Unread 01-17-2021, 02:39 PM
Orwn Acra Orwn Acra is online now
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My guess: he pardons the Capitol rioters.
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Unread 01-18-2021, 12:25 PM
Jim Moonan Jim Moonan is offline
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“ My guess: he pardons the Capitol rioters”

Walter, you’re getting warm... 100 pardons for starters. Unfortunately for the rioters, they don’t have the cash to dash. They instead will become Trumps own personal icons/martyrs for The Movement. Starting with King Horn Head.

48 hours to go...
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Unread 01-18-2021, 02:33 PM
Julie Steiner Julie Steiner is offline
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I saw this in the NYT, re the lucrative business of last-minute pardons:

Prospect of Pardons in Final Days Fuels Market to Buy Access to Trump
The president’s allies have collected tens of thousands of dollars — and potentially much more — from people seeking pardons.

Quote:
One lobbyist, Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor who has been advising the White House on pardons and commutations, has monetized his clemency work, collecting tens of thousands of dollars, and possibly more, in recent weeks to lobby the White House for clemency for the son of a former Arkansas senator; the founder of the notorious online drug marketplace Silk Road; and a Manhattan socialite who pleaded guilty in a fraud scheme.

Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer John M. Dowd has marketed himself to convicted felons as someone who could secure pardons because of his close relationship with the president, accepting tens of thousands of dollars from a wealthy felon and advising him and other potential clients to leverage Mr. Trump’s grievances about the justice system.

A onetime top adviser to the Trump campaign was paid $50,000 to help seek a pardon for John Kiriakou, a former C.I.A. officer convicted of illegally disclosing classified information, and agreed to a $50,000 bonus if the president granted it, according to a copy of an agreement.

And Mr. Kiriakou was separately told that Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani could help him secure a pardon for $2 million. Mr. Kiriakou rejected the offer, but an associate, fearing that Mr. Giuliani was illegally selling pardons, alerted the F.B.I. Mr. Giuliani challenged this characterization.

[...]

“This kind of off-books influence peddling, special-privilege system denies consideration to the hundreds of ordinary people who have obediently lined up as required by Justice Department rules, and is a basic violation of the longstanding effort to make this process at least look fair,” said Margaret Love, who ran the Justice Department’s clemency process from 1990 until 1997 as the United States pardon attorney.

There are few historical parallels. Perhaps the closest occurred in the final hours of Bill Clinton’s administration when he issued 170 pardons and commutations, some of which went to people who paid six-figure sums to his family and associates. But even Mr. Clinton, who was seen as flouting protocols, mostly rewarded people who had gone through an intensive Justice Department review process intended to identify and vet the most deserving recipients from among thousands of clemency applications.

Mr. Trump has shunned that process more than any recent president, creating an ad hoc system in the White House that Mr. Kushner has had significant influence over and has relied on input from an informal network of outside advisers, including Mr. Tolman. That system favors pardon seekers who have connections to Mr. Trump or his team, or who pay someone who does, said pardon lawyers who have worked for years through the Justice Department system.
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