This Wednesday, after Donald Trump won in seven of the seven essential swing states, Vice President Kamala Harris called Trump to concede and congratulate him on his win. However, this election feels like déjà vu for the many who followed the election of 2016. The major difference between the election in 2016 and the election in 2024 is the number of pending criminal charges against Donald Trump.
Now that Trump has won the election, can he pardon himself? The answer is both yes, and no. Although a president has never pardoned himself before, there is some gray area on whether it is even possible. In 1974, during the Nixon Watergate scandal, Nixon’s defense debated on attempting a presidential pardon. Ultimately, Nixon was pardoned by the 38th President Gerald Ford and avoided the complicated process that might’ve followed if he had attempted to pardon himself. However, theoretically, the president could still pardon himself under the right circumstances.
As of now, Trump has been convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, and continues to be involved in case(s) related to the January 6th insurrection, the mishandling of classified documents (involving obstruction of justice), and finally the Georgia election case in which Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election results. He was convicted of falsifying business records of as much as $130,000 to Stormy Daniels prior to his 2016 election in New York, making the case a state responsibility, meaning Trump could not pardon himself of the charges.
Ultimately, the president’s ability to pardon him or herself of any federal crime (except impeachment) seems to be an abuse of power in more ways than one. For example, with the power Trump now has as President-elect, he could force the Georgia election case out of existence. As Trump's lawyer, Steve Shadow, explained under the Supremacy Clause, the trial would not take place while Trump is in office (or maybe at all). Additionally, Brian Kalt, a professor at Michigan Law School commented on Trump's case: “A pardon by definition is something you can only give to someone else… You can't grant something to yourself”". The idea of self-pardoning presidents would need to make its way through the Supreme Court to give a conclusive decision, as well as many of Trump's cases at the hands of states where he would therefore need to be pardoned by those in control of that power in that state (different states have different rules about pardoning).
Finally, although the media is focused on pardoning now that Trump is president, there is still the possibility of Trump using his presidential powers in other ways to have the cases against him dropped. There is no doubt that those attempting to bring President Trump to justice will continue to attempt to do so, however, Trump’s presidential win just made it much more challenging.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj0jr5ypqedo
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/second-trump-presidency-implication/
10 comments:
This is a very interesting situation, almost a fascinating situation. A former American president being convicted of felony crimes is unheard of, and it raises questions about presidential power and the law. Felons voting is a complicated topic. States determine whether or not they will allow felons to vote. In California, the main idea is that the right to vote is restored after one with a felony conviction has finished serving their term. I am curious how the Supreme Court may interpret the law and their view on the situation. A president pardoning themselves would certainly be an abuse of power. It just doesn’t make sense. A presidential power to pardon oneself simply appears like an unchecked power.
It is quite alarming to see the next United States President be a person who could become a convicted felon with all of the charges that are against him. You talked about a lot of the pardoning that could happen with Trump’s charges and I feel like the most important person that can do this is the New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Even if Trump is somehow able to pardon himself, he cannot do it at the state level which could pose a problem. Hochul does have the power to pardon Trump on the state level but she is a Democrat, which means that she isn’t likely to give him a pardon. Without her pardon, Trump could still be charged with the 34 felonies at the state level. This would mean that there is little chance that he will be able to squeeze out of the charges unless he waits for a Republican to become the New York governor which will take time, meaning he will have to keep pushing back his court dates which may happen.
The fact that a convicted felon can even become President, let alone be elected by the people is an extremely concerning sign for the state of the country both morally and educationally. Also the entire premise of pardoning oneself shouldn't be allowed as forgiving oneself for a crime you may or may not be guilty for is biased and frankly dumb. The only hope for finally punishing him for constant crime and the history of legal abuse he has inflicted is through state level crimes which may be pardoned by those in power within the states! The other issue is will impeachment happen again and if so, will it succeed this time? It's unlikely given the republican majority in every branch of government but one can hope for the downfall of this disastrous and narcissist person that is our former and incoming president.
The reality is that Trump has built an incredibly effective personal brand. It would seem to be very obvious that felons are immediately barred from holding any sort of office, but clearly that has not been thought through by the framers of the Constitution or even legislatures down the line. Pardoning oneself seems equally odd. However, I think this speaks more than anything to the American's appetite for change. Trump represents the extremist right while also appealing to the economic populist moderates, and they clearly see him as an agent of change, to a degree, a rebel, against the political system that people have been angry with for so long. It is a change, and while not a welcome change for everyone, the Democrats need to build a stronger case to stand up against Donald Trump. "Basket of deplorables" didn't work in 2016 and "if you vote for Trump you're fascist and killing democracy" doesn't work now.
The irony that felons can't vote yet a felon has just been elected as president is pretty interesting. It really puts into perspective the importance of creating a public image and not to mention how ignorant most US voters are. Whether they are justifying his actions, believing them to be made up charges, or just unaware the severity of what he did, its clear a lot of his supporters haven't done much research on the topic. Its honestly impressive how he can spin public opinion. With all that said maybe in reality I'm the ignorant one who doesn't understand the truth behind Trump's convictions. Either way its clear how important it is to be educated on politics and until everyone is the most important thing will be public image over actual competence.
It is absolutely crazy to me that Donald Trump as a convicted felon is allowed to even run for me president. It really highlights just how much you can get away with when you are that rich and subsequently powerful. What is even more alarming to me is the fact that the american public still voted for him. Whether the american people didn't truly understand what Donald Trump has done or they voted for him despite his charges it is alarming to know that this can happen in our country. Whats worse is that Donald Trump may be able to pardon himself because of the heavily partisan republican supreme court, which would be an absolute abuse of his power. As it stands right now our only hope is the supreme court keeping donald trump under check so that he doesn't abuse his power, but if that doesn't happen things could look extremely bad for our country.
This is such an unprecedented scenario to where the gray area in the argument for and against his presidential pardon is super interesting. One part that interests me is his hush money trial as well, as since becoming the president elect, the judge has paused his ruling. If he somehow pardons himself during his presidency, do all of his charges get dropped? What about after his term, will he be re-convicted after as well? Obviously the president likely will not voluntarily jail himself over certain crimes, but it will be interesting to see the upcoming trials and other offenses against Trump evolve during his new presidential term.
I think it's incredibly interesting that someone with multiple convictions especially as many as Trump was allowed to not only run in the election but he also won. It especially surprises me that he won this year of all years. He is somehow still a popular candidate and has a voter base even after his convictions. Which I think says a lot about the kind of power money holds. Had Trump not been as powerful and rich as he is, he would not have gotten away with everything. The fact that the reputation he had built for himself was able to withstand these convictions is shocking. I'm just genuinely surprised that people still voted for him. And I think that just goes to show how uninformed some voters can be.
I seriously do not understand, like many other people are saying, that Trump was able to run for president and even so that majority (by a landslide) of Americans voted for him?? I’m assuming that a lot of this (hopefully) has to do with the fact that the majority of voters were uneducated and not that they willingly wanted a felon as a president. This really ties into what we learned in AP Gov about how the media that is presented to us that we turn to most often today is usually inaccurate, biased, or overly simplified in an attempt to grab people’s attention. Of course, we can’t just blame the media for people’s lack of political education, a lot of this also has to do with American’s willingness to become educated on politics. Clearly we need Americans to become better educated otherwise history may repeat itself yet again. As for everyone who voted for Trump who were aware of his crimes, I’m scared that there are people like this in the world we live in today.
I find it interesting that a convicted felon, somebody who has been previously impeached, has the power to pardon themselves, simply because they have the power to. I also find it interesting that so many people agree that Trump will attempt to pardon himself, regardless of the immoral and gray areas that surround doing so. I believe that past anything, it highlights the amount of power that a president can have, as well as the power of their support system, in Trump’s case, the Republican party. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out through Trump’s presidency starting in January, as well as how his support from the Republican party will rise through his presidency.
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