We don’t have to call it collusion to see cooperation, and money does seem to trump patriotism, but is it enough to offer pardons for GOP cooperation in obstructing justice.
It does explain the numbers of retirements for the midterm elections perhaps because of the origins of superPac money in 2016. This 2017 article is only one of many.
And then there’s #TrumpRussia pardons, for which the Arpaio pardon was a trial balloon.
The reality included a lengthy media discussion about how in the case of #TrumpRussia, there would be state-level changes in NY that could not be pardoned, aside from the obvious fact that a pardon admits to the crime.
More interesting is how each GOP member who has taken Russian money reconciles their relation to their respective GOP governors and their ability to pardon state-level crimes.
THREAD: What does today's report that Trump's lawyers discussed pardoning Manafort and Flynn mean for Mueller's investigation?
- 1/ The @nytimes just reported that Trump's former lawyer John Dowd approached lawyers for Manafort and Flynn and suggested that Trump would pardon them.
- 2/ Suggesting to Manafort and Flynn that they would get a pardon could be a way to discourage them from cooperating against Trump. A pardon would greatly reduce their incentive to cooperate.
- 3/ As @nytimes notes, Dowd has said privately that he doesn't understand why Flynn pleaded guilty. I wondered the same thing, because if @Comey is to be believed, Trump went to great lengths to protect Flynn. Presumably Flynn could expect a pardon, but he flipped anyway.
- 4/ Three potential explanations come to mind.
- First, perhaps the plea deal was so good that it was worth taking over an uncertain pardon.
- Second, Flynn was concerned about a state prosecution, which Trump couldn't pardon.
- Third, Flynn was concerned about his son's liability.
- 5/ This news does help explain why Manafort has not pleaded guilty despite facing overwhelming charges and a long prison sentence. I have long suspected that Manafort expected a pardon because his team's hyper-aggressive attacks on Mueller only make sense if that was the case.
- 6/ The main question raised by the piece is whether Dowd's comments to attorneys for Flynn and Manafort result in increased liability for Trump.
- The short answer is that they only create problems for Trump if Trump *himself* considered pardoning Flynn and Manafort.
- 7/ I understand what you're thinking--of course he did! But this article is an example of why people in Trump's position should only communicate through their attorneys. Dowd can't reveal whether Trump discussed pardons with him, and Trump can decline to reveal what he told Dowd.
- 8/ Trump could also take the Fifth if he's asked whether he considered pardoning them, given that it's possible that his motives for pardoning them could give rise to criminal liability.
- 9/ That doesn't end the discussion because Trump does not appear to be careful about what he reveals to others about his thoughts and intentions. Trump may have discussed with others--people who are not his personal, outside lawyers--his intent to pardon Flynn and Manafort.
- 10/ Mueller could interview those people about what Trump told them. If Trump wanted to pardon Flynn and Manafort in order to undermine the Mueller investigation, it could potentially create liability for him but it would be an unprecedented and novel case.
- 11/ That's because the Constitution gives the President broad power to pardon, and pardons by their nature undercut the criminal justice process. No one knows for sure how courts would decide whether pardons could be an act of obstructing justice. It's never happened before.
- 12/ In any event, the quotes by Sekulow and Cobb in the @nytimes piece are meant to suggest that they are not aware of Trump ever discussing pardoning Flynn and Manafort. If Trump did discuss pardons with anyone but Dowd, we can expect to read about it in the months ahead. /end
With whom has Agent Orange discussed pardoning Flynn or Manafort?
Washington (CNN) July 2017
President Donald Trump's new communications director and a member of his legal team said Sunday that Trump has no need to use his pardoning power as it relates to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
But, according to communications director Anthony Scaramucci, Trump has at least been mulling the power.
When asked on CNN's "State of the Union" who the President is considering pardoning, Scaramucci said "nobody."