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Amid relentless scrutiny over possible ties between his presidential campaign and Russia, an extraordinary suggestion has emerged - that Donald Trump could pardon himself or his family.
Source: BBC News
US President Donald Trump has insisted he has the "complete power" to pardon people, amid reports he is considering presidential pardons for family members, aides and even himself.
A Democratic Party spokesman has called the reports "extremely disturbing".
The US authorities are probing possible collusion between the Trump team and Russia. Intelligence agencies think Russia tried to help Mr Trump to power.
Russia denies this, and the president says there was no collusion.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Mr Trump and his team were looking at ways to pardon people close to him.
Source: BBC News
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday July 24 2017, @02:41PM (4 children)
Wondering:
if you pardon someone (yourself?) do you have to state what the pardon is for?
Do you have to say "I pardon myself for the crime of...."?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @03:05PM
You can pardon for all crimes if i'm not mistaken.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday July 24 2017, @03:52PM (1 child)
Does a pardon save one from civil suits? In a purely hypothetical scenario, could the president pardon himself or others for "grabbing them by the covfefe"?
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Wednesday July 26 2017, @03:17AM
This is a very good question. In many civil suits, criminal law enforcement reports are a crux in the judges determination. I'm getting all my info from watching Judge Judy. Here is an example, a person punches you. You have no pictures, and for one reason or another (the dog ate my homework) you didn't file a police report. You are suing for $5,000 dollars. She will want to see medical bills for $5,000 and the official police report of assault and battery.
Let's change the hypothetical situation from grabbing genitalia to something more malleable (no pun intended). Let's say he accidentally killed someone in a car accident and was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Could he pardon himself before he was convicted, thereby removing any criminal evidence from a future civil suit from the victims family? Can the family prove there was involuntary manslaughter with no criminal evidence? This is a sticky wicket indeed.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Tuesday July 25 2017, @01:31PM
I'm pretty sure that a pardon must specify the offenses being forgiven.