In 2018 Donald Trump even said he had the ‘absolute right’ to forgive himself (File)
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US President Donald Trump could grant an avalanche of pardons in his last days in office.
Trump has already granted clemency to his supporters, including earlier this year when he commuted the criminal sentence of Roger Stone, who was sentenced to prison after being convicted of lying under oath to lawmakers.
In 2018, Trump even said he had the “absolute right” to forgive himself – a claim that many constitutional law scholars dispute.
Here’s a look at Trump’s power of forgiveness, which is considerable but not absolute.
Are there any limits to Trump’s power of grace?
The power of pardon, which comes from the American Constitution, is one of the broadest a president has. The founders of the nation viewed the power of forgiveness as a means of showing mercy and serving the public good.
While pardons are generally granted to people who have been prosecuted, pardons can cover conduct that has not yet resulted in legal action.
A pardon is not reviewable by other branches of government and the president does not have to give a reason to issue one.
A pardon erases a criminal conviction. A different form of executive leniency, known as commutation, leaves the conviction intact but erases the punishment.
But the power of forgiveness is not absolute. Basically, a pardon only applies to federal crimes. This means that pardons would not protect, for example, Trump’s associates from the criminal investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a district attorney.
Vance’s investigation, which began over two years ago, stemmed from the low-key cash payments former lawyer and Presidential fixer Michael Cohen made ahead of the 2016 election to two women – a movie star for adults and a former Playboy model – who reported having had sex. meetings with Trump. Trump denied the meetings and said the investigation was politically motivated.
The district attorney suggested in court documents that the investigation was now broader and could focus on possible bank, tax and insurance fraud, as well as the falsification of business records. It is not known at what stage the investigation is at. No one has been charged with criminal acts.
Could Trump forgive his family members?
Yes. It is legal for Trump to forgive those around him, including his family members.
In 2001, former President Bill Clinton pardoned his own brother, Roger, who was convicted of cocaine possession in Arkansas.
Clinton pardoned about 450 people, including Democratic Party donor Marc Rich, who fled the country on charges of tax evasion.
Who else could forgive Trump?
Trump said he could forgive Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about talks he had with a Russian official before Trump took office in 2017.
Pending conviction, Flynn sought to withdraw his plea, claiming he created the FBI.
The Justice Department has requested permission from a judge to close the case.
There has also been speculation that Trump will preemptively forgive his personal lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Manhattan federal prosecutors are investigating whether Giuliani broke lobbying laws in his dealings with Ukraine.
Giuliani’s investigation is linked to the case against two of his associates, who are accused of campaign finance violations. Giuliani has denied breaking any laws and has not been charged with criminal acts by prosecutors.
Can Trump forgive himself?
There is no definitive answer to this question. No president has tried it before, so the courts have not intervened.
“When people ask me if a president can forgive himself, my response is always, ‘Well he can try,'” said Brian Kalt, professor of constitutional law at Michigan State University. “The Constitution does not provide a clear answer on this subject.”
Many jurists have said that a self-pardon would be unconstitutional because it violates the basic principle that no one should be a judge in their own case. Kalt said that, in his opinion, this was the strongest argument.
Trump could try to forgive himself preemptively to cover up the possibility of prosecution after leaving office.
In that case, the legitimacy of the pardon might never be tested in court, Kalt said. For a court to rule on the validity of the pardon, a federal prosecutor would have to charge Trump with a felony and then Trump would have to invoke pardon as a defense, he said.
Could the Vice President take over and forgive Trump?
In a 1974 memorandum, a Justice Department attorney said President Richard Nixon could not forgive himself but that another option was constitutional: that he temporarily step down, receive a pardon from his vice president, and then regain power.
To do so, Nixon should have invoked the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows an incapacitated president to temporarily resign.
Nixon ultimately resigned in the face of the Watergate scandal and almost certain arraignment and dismissal. His successor, Gerald Ford, later pardoned Nixon for all federal crimes he committed or may have committed during his tenure.
It’s unclear what Vice President Mike Pence would stand to gain by agreeing to forgive Trump, said Corey Brettschneider, professor of political science at Brown University.
“I don’t think Pence would want that to define his legacy,” Brettschneider said.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
