Turley Not Impressed With Trump Pardons | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the LifeZette. The author of this post is David Kamioner.

    For a man who campaigned on cleaning up the swamp, two of the last minute actions of Donald Trump were curious. One, dropping the five year moratorium on White House officials serving as lobbyists. Two, pardoning a list of people convicted or accused of political corruption.

    The first one is the obviously baffling decision. The Trump action not only doesn't drain a swamp, it dumps many right back into it to use their former official cachet to make money and perpetuate a system the former president repeatedly claimed to be dead set against.

    The second decision, while not the best optics and thus raising questions, seems more out of general clemency and compassion. A lot of people make mistakes in politics. Should those mistakes, as major as some are, define the rest of their lives? No. The former president understood this and pardoned those on both sides of the aisle, supporters and detractors alike.

    However, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley finds the Trump pardons problematic.

    Turley: "I can pardon everybody's mistakes except my own.' Those words of Cato the Elder have long been the principle guiding presidents who have resisted the temptation of issuing themselves pardons. There have been ample abuses of this power, but that is one dishonor that presidents have spared the country.

    "Absent a last-minute self-pardon, Trump will leave office without adding that ignoble distinction. He did not grant clemency to himself, his family or close associates like Rudy Giuliani.

    "Indeed, Trump has pardoned those accused of acts that are similar to allegations that he has faced during this presidency. His legacy is heavily laden with public officials convicted or accused of wrongdoing. He previously granted dubious pardons for former California GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter and former GOP Rep. Chris Collins as well as Joe Arpaio, the highly controversial former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz." What Turley fails to consider is how many of these prosecutions were purely political and thus very deserving of a pardon.

    "That pattern continued on his last day with pardons for former Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi, who was convicted of extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering. He also added former Rep. Robert Cannon 'Robin' Hayes, who served as chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party and chair of the National Council of Republican Party Chairs. He was convicted of making a false statement to investigators. He also included former California Rep. Randall 'Duke' Cunningham, who accepted bribes while he held public office." Cunningham is a Vietnam War hero. In fact, he is one of the top fighter aces of the war. His service earned him that pardon.

    "Yet, the most notable political operative is former adviser Steve Bannon, who has not even faced trial on serious fraud claims linked to an online fundraising campaign known as 'We Build the Wall.' Trump's pardons show a disregard for prosecutions for political corruption and a great regard for his personal friends and political allies. There is little redeeming in that record. Indeed, in the end, the most redeeming moment was the absence of the additional abuse of self-dealing."
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Media Writes Love Notes To Joe Biden Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics Democrats Have Buyer’s Remorse in Georgia


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

After suffering a record-tying 28th straight loss, basketball fans across the country and the other 29 NBA teams voted unanimously to demote the Detroit Pistons to the WNBA.
David Draiman, the lead singer of the heavy metal band Disturbed, paused in the middle of a concert to give an impassioned speech about Israel, saying of Hamas’ claims that they were “freedom fighters,” “Freedom fighters, my f***ing a**.”
The North Carolina Supreme Court heard arguments recently in a lawsuit brought by The Society for the Historical Preservation of the 26th North Carolina Troops against the City of Asheville over the removal of a monument
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has secured a spot on the ballots in Arizona and Georgia, according to the political action committee backing his White House bid.
Like many other states, the North Carolina has received a lot of money from the federal government to address the impacts of the corona virus pandemic.
A local wife began training to join her regional women's hockey team when she discovered the grand prize for winners of the National Hockey League is a Stanley Cup.
it is time to prosecture them for election interference

HbAD1

A Chinese national was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the bust of a massive marijuana operation in rural south Georgia last week.
Felon voting advocates argue in a new court filing that North Carolina's new election law should have no impact on their federal lawsuit.
That is one that was stopped how many weren't stopped
The game show “Jeopardy!,” in which gives contestants must give answers in the form of a question, embraced the woke agenda by including so-called “neo-pronouns” as an answer.
City employing all-of-government effort aimed at finding work for illegal immigrants, emails indicate
Embattled former New York Congressman George Santos has landed on his feet following his ouster from the U.S. House of Representatives, with the announcement that he has been hired as a fact-checker at The New York Times.
Former President Donald Trump won Michigan’s Republican Party presidential primary on Tuesday night, beating former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley by more than 30 points.

HbAD2

 
Back to Top