The White House Counsel and Trump’s Attack on the 2020 Election
The White House at night (Robert Scoble, https://www.flickr.com/photos/35034363287@N01/2617357908; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/).
During Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation, President Trump was famously quoted as complaining about the quality of the lawyering he was getting. To him, the notorious Roy Cohn set the gold standard: “a very loyal guy” who had been “vicious to others in his defense of me.” Trump did not believe that his White House counsel Don McGahn, much less his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, met the loyalty test.
Anticipating President Donald Trumpâs likely end-of-term pardon spree, many commentators have suggested that, given the breadth of the pardon power as set out in the Constitution, it would be lawful â if galling â for the president to issue proclamations that let his family off the hook for any and all federal offenses committed during his administration.
But itâs not so simple. A stronger case can be made that Trump cannot constitutionally wipe the slate clean for his children.
Start with a point that everyone this side of Rudy Giuliani would acknowledge. Despite the Constitutionâs categorical wording â it sweepingly authorizes the president to âgrant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United Statesâ â not everything goes. The pardon authority canât be construed to allow a president to commit a crime or to violate constitutional principles in exercising it. He or she couldnât decide, for instance, that only members
Can Trump give his kids a get-out-of-jail-free card? napavalleyregister.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from napavalleyregister.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Litman: Can Trump give his kids a get-out-of-jail-free card? [Los Angeles Times]
Anticipating President Trump’s likely end-of-term pardon spree, many commentators have suggested that given the breadth of the pardon power as set out in the Constitution, it would be lawful if galling for the president to issue proclamations that let his family off the hook for any and all federal offenses committed during his administration.
But it’s not so simple. A stronger case can be made that Trump cannot constitutionally wipe the slate clean for his kids.
Start with a point that everyone this side of Rudy Giuliani would acknowledge. Despite the Constitution’s categorical wording it sweepingly authorizes the president to “grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States” not everything goes. The pardon authority can’t be construed to allow a president to commit a crime or to violate constitutional principles in exercising it. He or she couldn’t decide, f
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Anticipating President Trump’s likely end-of-term pardon spree, many commentators have suggested that given the breadth of the pardon power as set out in the Constitution, it would be lawful if galling for the president to issue proclamations that let his family off the hook for any and all federal offenses committed during his administration.
But it’s not so simple. A stronger case can be made that Trump cannot constitutionally wipe the slate clean for his kids.
Start with a point that everyone this side of Rudy Giuliani would acknowledge. Despite the Constitution’s categorical wording it sweepingly authorizes the president to “grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States” not everything goes. The pardon authority can’t be construed to allow a president to commit a crime or to violate constitutional principles in exercising it. He or she couldn’t decide, for instance, that only members of a particular racial group could be pardo