Let’s say the feds filed criminal charges against Donald Trump Jr. in connection with him meeting the Russian lawyer and seeking out the dirt on Clinton. Could Donald Sr. issue a pardon? Would he? What would be the political ramifications? Would this be the scandal that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, or would it be just another thing the Republicans would handwave away and not give a shit about?
Of course he could. Just out of curiosity, why do you think he might not be able to?
Would he? Probably. He doesn’t care what people think about him, and his base of supporters will probably think the charges were politically motivated anyway.
Just thought there might be some sort of ethics rule preventing it, since he’s family.
What’s illegal about meeting with someone who says they have dirt on your opponent in a campaign?
The Trumps are immune from ethical provisions.
They were told the Russian Government was behind it. Then they lied and denied the meeting ever took place. Maybe legal, maybe not. Time will tell.
That’s so cute! Do it again!
Let’s face it-Nothing is really illegal if you leave out enough details, right? :rolleyes:
Still where’s the crime, even if it was directly from the Russian government, which hasn’t been proven? Pretty sure bribing a foreign official is a crime. But receiving information?
But Bill Clinton lied about having teh sexorz!
According to this article:
As a government official, Trump is required to report all contacts with foreign representatives. He did not report his meetings with the Russians. So even if his meetings were completely innocent, he still broke the law by keeping them secret.
This certainly seems to be the Republican talking point of the day. Which is fair enough, I guess, since it is the last thing they have left. They’ve tried “the meeting was only about orphan babies”, but that only lasted 8 hours or so. Then there was “I had no idea who I was meeting”, but that was disproven with an actual email to Trump Jr.
Now we’re down to how it can not be actually illegal to go to a meeting and solicit a foreign agent to give you information about your political opponent that was obtained in unknown ways. And then lie about the meeting.
Maybe you should try the “She was just an innocent Russian lady trying to help orphans, and had nothing, NOTHING to do with the Russian government”
I believe Laurence Tribe knows more about the law than I. It isn’t that exclusive a club, but he said “Attempted theft of a presidential election in collusion w/ Putin is a serious felony and a high crime against the state.” It doesn’t matter if he got information or not.
From Richard Painter, former ethics lawyer for George W. Bush: “If he attempted to get illegally stolen private information from the Russians it was illegal for him to attempt to do so. Just like buying stolen goods from a known fence.”
Lock him up!
That’s a bit of a stretch…
Donald Trump Jr. was not a government official and is still isn’t, to my knowledge.
Agreed.
To the question about pardons… **John Mace **got it in the first reply. Nothing would stop Trump from issuing a pardon. And he probably would. And he would not give a shit, since his approval rate would just drop from 40% to 35%.
I wonder a couple of things though…
- Can Trump pro-actively pardon Trump Jr. before a trial? Or indeed before charges are even filed?
- Can Trump now issue a blanket pardon to “anyone who at any time did anything illegal with any foreign power to help me win the election”
Yes, the President can issue blanket pardons against federal prosecution for any action at any time up to the present.
Yes, he can and very well might proactively pardon everyone (except, perhaps, himself).
Not that he wouldn’t be brazen enough to try…and that a (no longer surprising) number of Conservatives would back him up.