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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: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Monday July 24 2017, @02:45PM (2 children)
What counts as an impeachable offense is whatever Congress says is an impeachable offense. The two times we've actually had a president impeached and put on trial in the Senate, the pretexts were extremely flimsy legally (Andrew Johnson was impeached for firing his Secretary of War breaking a law the Supreme Court said later was unconstitutional, Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about sex). Impeachment is fundamentally a political process, not a legal one. If enough people, especially enough congresscritters, want a president's scalp, he'll be impeached, if not, he won't.
Right now, Trump is putting a lot of effort into trying to secure the personal loyalty of Republicans in Congress. That is right now his primary defense against being ousted. For another comparison, Richard Nixon resigned after it became clear the Republicans in Congress were no longer willing to protect him.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @03:40PM (1 child)
Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath to Congress. As an example, imagine he had sworn under oath, "I have not broken an embargo to sell guns to Iran, in order to fund a rebellion in Africa" when he in fact had. That the thing he was lying about was professionally minor doesn't change the fact that he had lied while under oath: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman..."
It is like a prosecutor throwing the book at somebody and seeking a 90-day prison sentence for somebody jaywalking. From a legal perspective it is absolutely sound.
This I'll agree with.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday July 24 2017, @03:44PM
No, he was impeached for lying under oath in a lawsuit deposition. I agree that's perjury, although as far as presidential lies go (including those made under oath) it's far from the biggest or most consequential whopper. I have to assume that most of the tailors in Washington DC line suit trousers with asbestos as a standard precaution.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.