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Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

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Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#41
post #12

Serious question - it seems that many of this Administrations activities are illegal in some way or the other. I know that government officials are shielded from a lot of actions so they can not be prosecuted. What actions that have been taken could actually be prosecuted? For example, I would have to assume that the ballroom demolition and build-out is illegal, there were $0 appropriated from Congress for this, and…

> it seems that many of this Administrations activities are illegal Many are. This one is not. The President has sweeping pardon powers. The solution is to strike the final phrase in Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution: “and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” [1]. There isn’t a place for one-man pardons in a r…

> "Many are. This one is not. The President has sweeping pardon powers."

I understand it's debatably possible to prosecute the public corruption that motivated a pardon, even though the pardon act itself is unreviewable. I.e., the DoJ attempted a criminal bribery investigation of Bill Clinton's pardon of the donor Marc Rich,

https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/15/us/us-is-beginning-crimin... ("U.S. is beginning criminal inquiry in pardon of Rich" (2001))

> "Some lawyers have said that proving such a case could be exceedingly difficult because bribery cases usually required the cooperation of one of the parties. Moreover, contributions to political parties or to Mr. Clinton's library foundation are legal, and the president's pardon authority is unreviewable."

I assume similar logic might apply to World Liberty Financial and Trump's CZ pardon.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#44

It's a good thing Trump is as old as he is. Imagine if a 50 year old had this much influence over his party, could ignore any law, and stole this much money. May I never live to see such a thing happen in the US, but it doesn't feel unlikely.

We better hope JD Vance isn't able to capture the cult of personality after Trump is gone.

JD Vance is a great debator, and might appeal to some urban Republic voters. But I don't see him having and away on the rural voters like Trump does.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We better hope JD Vance isn't able to capture the cult of personality after Trump is gone.

JD Vance is a great debator, and might appeal to some urban Republic voters. But I don't see him having and away on the rural voters like Trump does.

I’m very confused. Rural voters can connect with a dynastic NYC real estate developer, but Vance at least has origins much closer to typical Americans.

Is it just media nostalgia? Trump was on the TV shows they liked and so they trust him more?

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#47
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it seems that many of this Administrations activities are illegal Many are. This one is not. The President has sweeping pardon powers. The solution is to strike the final phrase in Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution: “and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” [1]. There isn’t a place for one-man pardons in a r…

It seems like whatever party gets into power, suddenly doesn't want to change the system they inherited. I remember Trudeau talking about eliminating first past the post in Canadian elections. But once he got into power he forgot about it. We need a way to vote for popular ideas via referendum at the federal level. That might get it through.

In history generally the only way governments are ever restructured is through civil war (or invasion).

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#48
post #12

Serious question - it seems that many of this Administrations activities are illegal in some way or the other. I know that government officials are shielded from a lot of actions so they can not be prosecuted. What actions that have been taken could actually be prosecuted? For example, I would have to assume that the ballroom demolition and build-out is illegal, there were $0 appropriated from Congress for this, and…

"Well, when the president does it ... that means that it is not illegal" -- Richard Nixon (1977) "Well, when the president does it ... that means that it is not illegal" -- SCOTUS (2024) That leaves impeachment as the only legal remedy, which you've correctly identified as not a possibility with the current congress.

His two previous impeachments don't seem to have slowed him down, so it seems unlikely that a third would be any different. Not to mention his felony conviction.
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