Please Pardon Trump’s Constitutional Crisis

Joel Reyer
Jul 23, 2017 · 3 min read
Hey Mikey check this shit out!

In the latest White House folly, our Selfless Leader appears to be contemplating a self-pardon! Wait. The President of the United States of America, in his seventh month in office, is trying to figure out how to pardon himself for his many *potential* crimes. Classic.

Naturally, opinions abound on whether Trump “can” pardon himself or not. Sean Illing at Vox covers a range of them here. But ultimately, could Trump do it…?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Expert testimonials culminate in a sort of big collective shrug. Trumptimists say that because the only explicit Constitutional exclusion to his power is for cases of impeachment, he could extend the pardon to pretty much anyone at this point, including himself. Because he‘s trying to slime out of facing his crimes before impeachment comes, this actually seems like a rational argument.

But while he might be able to issue the self-pardon, many experts think it would represent a flagrant enough admission of guilt, as well as a suitably egregious abuse of power, to trigger an impeachment, even with Republicans’ tendency to cower in the corners whenever real issues arise. Regardless of the legal standing of the pardon itself, the consequences of issuing it could be grave for Trump if impeachment follows.

Meanwhile, one of the experts in Illing’s article noted that:

“Shortly before President Nixon resigned from office, the Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion in which they cautioned that no one may be a judge in his own case. (This is also a principle of so-called “natural law.”) This meant, the OLC said, that the president cannot pardon himself.”

But she also said that a position staked on the OLC conclusion would be tenuous at best. And there isn’t much about the American legal system that can be called “natural,” which leaves plenty of room for doubt. But it’s an interesting data point nonetheless.

So where does this all leave us?

It’s futile to speculate and impossible to determine whether Trump can legally pardon himself.

If it happens the case will end up going to the Supreme Court to figure out what to do with. It will also most likely trigger an impeachment and/or a constitutional crisis.

no no, don’t do that

Although what, exactly, a constitutional crisis IS remains unclear. But the medias are using the term a lot and it’s fun to say. Try it. Constitutional Crisis! Very dramatic. It most likely means a few weeks of alarming news flashes, Democrats fuming ineffectually, slapstick GOP attempts at denial and cover up, and Jake Tapper looking flushed and indignant. Yum. Followed by whatever, normal life and the next stupid problem.

Oh also. An impeachment is an act of Congress, which Republicans control. And since they haven’t show much willingness to hold the President to account…

Prospects for impeachment may depend on Republicans in Congress finding a little moral courage…

You know, the courage to do their job as elected. However, there are plenty of anti-Trump representatives in the GOP who can find reasons other than moral ones to pursue an impeachment, so it may have life even given the dismal reality of Republican political ethics.

Obviously it’s all hypothetical for now, but as a dependably erratic reactive, Trump is capable of doing whatever, whenever. So he may well just have a go at pardoning himself.

And if he does… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Author’s note: I hope Trump does it, because I’m curious what the Supreme Court will make of it, and whether this will be the issue to trigger his impeachment.

Joel Reyer

Written by

actor/writer looking at the dismal state of the world with mischief and hope. army vet, fellowed in congress. teams queer & vegan https://www.artofjoel.com

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