# Trump Pardons Everyone! **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 18, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121 "2020-02-18T19:12:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/41 "2020-02-18T23:12:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If there’s one thing that has bipartisan support in both houses of Congress, it’s members of Congress not being assassinated. If Trump did that, then even the Republicans would vote to remove him. Not if Trump expressly said that he only approved of Democrat politicians being whacked. I seriously believe the house and senate Republicans would shrug and say “that’s a terrible thing. we strongly disapprove \” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/42 "2020-02-18T23:14:09Z")
Or, an alternate scenario: Is there anything to prevent a lame duck Trumpo in December 2020, having lost the election, from declaring a pardon from every single federal prison inmate in the state of New York? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/43 "2020-02-18T23:20:06Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Proving he’s interested in more than just politics, Trump then pardoned Michael Milking for securities fraud, and former NYC police commissioner Bernard Kerick for tax fraud. Can Bernie Madoff be far behind? As for Blagojevich, what, no full pardon for him? I guess Trump just couldn’t find it in himself to give a full pardon to a Democrat. As I just wrote in the Trump Clusterfuck thread: > [@The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40667): > > Trump commutes Blago’s sentence: Oddly bipartisan of him, eh wot? > > (What, he couldn’t find it in himself of give a full pardon to the Democrat?) > > What do you suppose led Trump to find it in that place where normal people have a heart, to do this? > > Was it to support corrupt politicians in general, who Trump sees as being of his own kindred? > > Or was it to exonerate (sort-of) the guy who tried to sell that evil Kenyan Obama’s former Senate seat to the highest bidder? Okay, I can also appreciate **Loach** suggestion that it’s a shot at Comey, even if that happens to be factually false (which is irrelevant in Trumpworld). (Wow, what an active thread! In the time I typed up the above, 8 new posts were added!) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/44 "2020-02-18T23:24:28Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Not if Trump expressly said that he only approved of Democrat politicians being whacked. I seriously believe the house and senate Republicans would shrug and say “that’s a terrible thing. we strongly disapprove \” They will strongly furrow their eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/45 "2020-02-18T23:26:57Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Not if Trump expressly said that he only approved of Democrat politicians being whacked. I seriously believe the house and senate Republicans would shrug and say “that’s a terrible thing. we strongly disapprove \” After all, every dead Democrat makes it more likely Trump gets re-elected, and we all know that anything he does to advance his re-election effort is within his rights as president. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/46 "2020-02-18T23:34:51Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Not if Trump expressly said that he only approved of Democrat politicians being whacked. I seriously believe the house and senate Republicans would shrug and say “that’s a terrible thing. we strongly disapprove \” From this clip ([SNL: “Days Of Our Impeachment”](https://www.newsandguts.com/video/snl-days-of-our-impeachment/)): > [@](#): > > Adam Schiff: Let the record show that the president is intimidating the witness. > > Jim Jordan: Intimidating. If the president wanted to intimidate you, he’d shoot you in the face in the middle of 5th Ave. > > Marie Yovanovitch: OK. And then would you impeach him? > > Jim Jordan: Well, I’d have to look at the facts, but no. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/47 "2020-02-18T23:35:18Z")
[Trump just claimed he is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the U.S.](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2020/feb/18/donald-trump-democrats-nevada-bloomberg-bernie-sanders-joe-biden-amy-klobuchar-live-updates)…so I guess Barr can just go home now, right? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/48 "2020-02-18T23:48:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Trump just claimed he is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the U.S.](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2020/feb/18/donald-trump-democrats-nevada-bloomberg-bernie-sanders-joe-biden-amy-klobuchar-live-updates)…so I guess Barr can just go home now, right? He is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. You dispute that? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/49 "2020-02-18T23:48:26Z")
Just to be clear he’s not pardoning everyone. [Those who go through the regular clemency process and aren’t attached to a celebrity are SOL](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/most-clemency-grants-bypass-doj-and-go-to-well-connected-offenders/2020/02/03/4e8f3eb2-21ce-11ea-9c2b-060477c13959_story.html). > [@](#): > > What’s more, the administration inherited a backlog of more than 11,300 petitions, according to Justice Department statistics. > > As of late January, nearly 7,600 petitions have been filed since Trump took office. About 5,900 petitions have been closed by the pardon office during Trump’s presidency because the inmate was released, died or was ineligible for clemency. > > Trump’s decisions on only 204 petitions means that nearly 13,000 people are waiting. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/50 "2020-02-18T23:50:04Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > He is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. You dispute that? Ummmmmmmm…Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/51 "2020-02-18T23:52:31Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > He is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. You dispute that? You mean the rumors of Bill Barr being a 250-pound sock puppet are true? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/52 "2020-02-18T23:54:41Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I find it fascinating that Trump can be viewed as both an idiotic buffoon and an evil genius at the same time by the same people. I think most of his decisions don’t go below the level of his surface thoughts. > > “Blago was a good guy on The Apprentice. His wife tells me he was screwed by Comey. Commute his sentence.” > > “Bernie was a good guy when I knew him in New York. Pardon him.” > > “Mikey was a good guy when I knew him in New York. He’s bald now and had cancer. Pardon.” > > “Some 49er players are saying Eddie is a good guy. Pardon.” > > It helps to read that as Alec Baldwin as Trump. Trump isn’t an evil genius, he is an amoral simpleton. If you want him to do something all you have to do is flatter him or bribe him. Or find a way to make it look like him doing what you want is him sticking it to his enemies (Obama, etc) Blago flattered him and presented his case as something the democrats and comey would inflict on their political enemies. He played Trump like the buffoon he is and now he is out of prison. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/53 "2020-02-19T00:23:41Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > … > As for Blagojevich, what, no full pardon for him? I guess Trump just couldn’t find it in himself to give a full pardon to a Democrat. > > As I just wrote in the Trump Clusterfuck thread: > > Okay, I can also appreciate **Loach** suggestion that it’s a shot at Comey, even if that happens to be factually false (which is irrelevant in Trumpworld). > > (Wow, what an active thread! In the time I typed up the above, 8 new posts were added!) Blago was on Trump’s tv show, and The Blagos pretty much begged Trump. That makes him feel important and Kingly. Probably not the sole reason, but add them in as parts. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/54 "2020-02-19T00:40:46Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Only the best people, the rich people, and those lucky few liked by Kim Kardashian. Or Rudy Giuliani. Bernard Kerik and Rudy are really, really tight buddies, going back years. Rudy appointed him corrections commissioner, and then police commissioner, in New York. Then, after Kerik left the police department and went into the private sector, Rudy recommended him for Secretary of Homeland Security (during the Bush administration). How Rudy and Bernie ever thought he would get past the background check is beyond me. He didn’t, of course, and not long after the indictments started coming down. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/55 "2020-02-19T02:45:34Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > He is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. You dispute that? Trump is also the boss of Pompeo. Does that make Trump the Chief Diplomat? Trump is also the boss of Wilbur Ross. Does that make Trump the Chief of Commerce? Trump is also the boss of Mark Esper. Does that make Trump the Chief of Defense? Trump is also the boss of Ben Carson. Does that make Trump the Chief of Housing and Urban Development? Trump is also the boss of David Bernhardt. Does that make Trump the Chief of the Interior Department? Etc. That’s even more things he’s in charge of than Jared Kushner! Per Yahoo News today: [Trump declares himself ‘chief law enforcement officer’ as he issues numerous pardons](https://news.yahoo.com/trump-pardons-blagojevich-barr-roger-stone-chief-law-enforcement-officer-203952347.html) > [@](#): > > President Trump on Tuesday exercised his pardon power, granting clemency to or commuting the sentences of nearly a dozen people convicted of crimes, including former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and junk bond pioneer Michael Milken. > > Trump also referred to himself as the nation’s “chief law enforcement officer,” **a title typically reserved for the attorney general.** [_Emphasis added._] > > . . . > > The president reiterated his claim that he has the right to intervene in the Stone case. > > “I’m actually, I guess, the chief law enforcement officer of the country,” Trump said. “I could be involved if I wanted to.” **UltrtaVires** , you surely must have known better than that. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/56 "2020-02-19T11:41:34Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Trump is also the boss of Pompeo. Does that make Trump the Chief Diplomat? > > Trump is also the boss of Wilbur Ross. Does that make Trump the Chief of Commerce? > > Trump is also the boss of Mark Esper. Does that make Trump the Chief of Defense? > > Trump is also the boss of Ben Carson. Does that make Trump the Chief of Housing and Urban Development? > > Trump is also the boss of David Bernhardt. Does that make Trump the Chief of the Interior Department? > > Etc. > > That’s even more things he’s in charge of than Jared Kushner! > > Per Yahoo News today: > [Trump declares himself ‘chief law enforcement officer’ as he issues numerous pardons](https://news.yahoo.com/trump-pardons-blagojevich-barr-roger-stone-chief-law-enforcement-officer-203952347.html) > > **UltrtaVires** , you surely must have known better than that. If all of those were real titles and not just made up to look like stupid joke titles, then yeah, Trump is the Chief of the Interior Department. He is the head of the entire executive branch. All executive power is constitutionally vested in the President. He has the duty to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. Sounds like he is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer. If the system has seen fit to hire a subordinate to largely carry out the task, it still doesn’t deprive a president of his power over that subordinate. Maybe the founders got it wrong and one person shouldn’t have all that power. But until the Constitution is amended, the president does. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/57 "2020-02-19T12:06:00Z")
NSA leaker, Reality Winner is also seeking a pardon or commutation of course she did call Trump a “soulless ginger orangutan” so I guess she is hoping nobody tells him that. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/58 "2020-02-19T13:22:31Z")
Trump also pardoned Paul Pogue. In what is a huge coincidence and not at all a bribe, Paul Pogue’s family donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump’s campaign. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/59 "2020-02-19T13:56:26Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > If all of those were real titles and not just made up to look like stupid joke titles, then yeah, Trump is the Chief of the Interior Department. > > . Is “Chief Law Enforcement Officer” a real title? Seems more like a description to me- and according to this [The Executive Branch | The White House](https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-executive-branch/) , the person fitting that description is the AG.( with no caps in the “title” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121/60 "2020-02-19T14:01:35Z")
No, “Chief Law Enforcement Officer” is not an official title. Yes, that should be the attorney general. Trump is basically declaring himself the attorney general of the US as well as President and whatever else he’s declared himself to be this week. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pardons-everyone/848121.md?page=4)