Earlier quoted context omitted.
No. While I don’t like Trump and never did, several of the prosecutions against him were political. By political, I mean they would not have happened if he had not become a politician, in fact, they didn’t until he became one and an unpopular one at that. And he’s doing much worse now so that’s two.
> they would not have happened if he had not become a politician That is a little vague. Some of his crimes only happened because he became a politician, so of course the prosecution would be seen as political in that sense. What I would like to know is which crimes did he commit that were only prosecuted because he was a politician, which would otherwise have been ignored?
Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
201–210 of 310 posts
Re: Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
> they would not have happened if he had not become a politician That is a little vague. Some of his crimes only happened because he became a politician, so of course the prosecution would be seen as political in that sense. What I would like to know is which crimes did he commit that were only prosecuted because he was a politician, which would otherwise have been ignored?
The main crime seems to have been leaving the Democrat party as it raced leftwards.
Re: Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
#203Earlier quoted context omitted.
Who exactly 'forced' you to become a Democrat? If that were real, I'm pretty sure it would have made the news.
I never claimed that anyone forced me to become a Democrat. I support them at the national level because they're the least evil of the two and exactly two relevant options available, and the one which at least gives lip service to progressive values. But that is still like supporting Mussolini over Hitler. Locally I vote third party when I have a chance. And I live in Texas so none of my votes matter anyway.
If I claimed that I had no choice but to become a Republican, I would be justifiably laughed at (even by fellow Republicans). Political views and affiliations are certainly choices.
Anyone can claim that their opinion is the only sane one.
Re: Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
#204We should at least ban the "preemptive" pardon if not all pardons. Pardon means forgiveness for a specific convicted crime, not a means to grant blanket immunity.
So I have mixed feeling on this. I'm thinking of Carter fulfilling a campaign pledge to pardon draft dodgers. Whether you support that or not, he did what he said he was going to do and I'm sure only some of them had actually been charged in any way. I think that's a perfectly fine use for the pardon power. Some will point to the Hunter Biden pardon. So two things can be true at once here: it was absolutely political…
In 2022 he pardoned ~6500 people with federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana. That didn't actually release anyone from jail because it turned out everyone in jail with a simple possession conviction was also in there for other crimes but for those for whom it was their only drug offense (both currently in prison or not) it wiped it off their record which would restore eligibility for various things that drug offenders are barred from.
Near the end of his term he commuted the sentences of around 2500 non-violent drug offenders.
Re: Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
> a political necessity, for example to protect Liz Cheney IANACL but surely there are other ways to protect people from politically motivated prosecutions? E.g. jail anybody attempting to direct the DOJ for personal or political reasons?
The DOJ is part of the executive - so it is fiction that it was ever apolitical. RFK was JFKs brother, do you think they weren't coordinating DOJ's investigations into political opponents? (e.g. Jimmy Hoffa) Congress created the DOJ, It is their job to police it. They can defund or even eliminate it. That's the check on it.
Re: Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
>SCOTUS decided to grant the president immunity for any crime committed in their official function That ruling is very broad and vague! I don't think killing Congress is part of POTUS's official job description. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-isnt-immune-from...
That's the thing though. Where do you draw the line from the hitman and the one who ordered it legally in their official capacity.
Re: Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
The DOJ is part of the executive - so it is fiction that it was ever apolitical. RFK was JFKs brother, do you think they weren't coordinating DOJ's investigations into political opponents? (e.g. Jimmy Hoffa) Congress created the DOJ, It is their job to police it. They can defund or even eliminate it. That's the check on it.
It all comes back to needing to check the expanding power of the Executive.
Re: Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
> they would not have happened if he had not become a politician That is a little vague. Some of his crimes only happened because he became a politician, so of course the prosecution would be seen as political in that sense. What I would like to know is which crimes did he commit that were only prosecuted because he was a politician, which would otherwise have been ignored?
One seems to be New York v. Trump, which was a civil lawsuit instead of criminal. The main charge in the case was overstatement of real estate values to secure loans, yet the banks lending the money (mainly Deutsche Bank, if I remember correctly) were sophisticated lenders who were capable of assessing those estimates and the risk of lending. The banks not only did not lose money from the transactions but in fact hap…
The first part is either a crime, or it is not, regardless of the second? Suppose I falsely say I am worth millions, and then actually win the lottery. It being true later doesn't change whether it was lie originally.
Re: Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
#209Are there any longer or more generic than this: > For any nonviolent offenses against the United States which they may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1 2014 through the date of this pardon ( JAN 19, 2025 ). https://pardonned.com/pardon/details/biden-family/ That’s 11+ years with no detail or description.
Re: Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
I never claimed that anyone forced me to become a Democrat. I support them at the national level because they're the least evil of the two and exactly two relevant options available, and the one which at least gives lip service to progressive values. But that is still like supporting Mussolini over Hitler. Locally I vote third party when I have a chance. And I live in Texas so none of my votes matter anyway.
You claimed that you had no choice but to become a Democrat. If that wasn't caused by coercion, then it certainly was a choice. If I claimed that I had no choice but to become a Republican, I would be justifiably laughed at (even by fellow Republicans). Political views and affiliations are certainly choices. Anyone can claim that their opinion is the only sane one.
I explained my choice. Choosing the lesser evil is a choice. I don't think anyone in this thread besides you is getting hung up on this, and I don't know why you're being so aggressively pedantic. It's weird.