• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Christie: Trump would be impeached if he pardoned himself

RickJames3000 said:
That’s right. But it wouldn’t even get to the Senate. Impeachment wouldn’t even pass in the GOP-led House if Trump pardoned himself. The Republicans aren’t going to jettison their standard-bearer now. They will live and/or die with him.
Click to expand...

Lets just see who controls the House in Jan 2019, then we can talk articles of impeachment.
 
Helix said:
I'm not convinced that the current Republican party has enough integrity to impeach Trump even if he pardons himself. This is why we have to vote against them at all levels for the next few elections, even if that means voting for useless Democrats.
Click to expand...

Could this administration lead to an end to the hegemony of the two parties? Could we hope?
 
Dittohead not! said:
If he's impeached, then he wouldn't be president any more. Could he still pardon anyone then, let alone himself? This whole "president can pardon himself" idea seems absurd to me.
Click to expand...

Which is why I said “right before being impeached”. There is no such thing as a surprise impeachment. If the House were going to vote to impeach then Trump would know ahead of time and they would also have a decent idea of what the vote count would be. If it didn’t look good then Trump could pardon himself before the vote goes through. I agree it all sounds absurd but more and more absurd things have been happening. Regardless, I am approaching this more as an intellectual exercise or thought experiment.

What I don’t know is if a President has pardoning powers during the period of time between the House voting to impeach and the Senate voting to convict. Could Bill Clinton have pardoned himself for perjury during the impeachment trial, for example?
 
Skeptic Bob said:
Which is why I said “right before being impeached”. There is no such thing as a surprise impeachment. If the House were going to vote to impeach then Trump would know ahead of time and they would also have a decent idea of what the vote count would be. If it didn’t look good then Trump could pardon himself before the vote goes through. I agree it all sounds absurd but more and more absurd things have been happening. Regardless, I am approaching this more as an intellectual exercise or thought experiment.

What I don’t know is if a President has pardoning powers during the period of time between the House voting to impeach and the Senate voting to convict. Could Bill Clinton have pardoned himself for perjury during the impeachment trial, for example?
Click to expand...

I don't see how Clinton could have pardoned himself for perjury when he hadn't been indicted for that crime, and would have to have been impeached before he could be indicted and tried. Can a president pardon anyone, let alone himself, before he is convicted of a crime?
 
Dittohead not! said:
I don't see how Clinton could have pardoned himself for perjury when he hadn't been indicted for that crime, and would have to have been impeached before he could be indicted and tried. Can a president pardon anyone, let alone himself, before he is convicted of a crime?
Click to expand...

Nixon was pardoned before being convicted or indicted for a crime. So there is certainly precedence for pardoning someone else before being charged with a crime. As for pardoning oneself? That is untested waters.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
Nixon was pardoned before being convicted or indicted for a crime. So there is certainly precedence for pardoning someone else before being charged with a crime. As for pardoning oneself? That is untested waters.
Click to expand...

You're right. I hadn't thought of Nixon. This is indeed untested waters.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Could this administration lead to an end to the hegemony of the two parties? Could we hope?
Click to expand...

i've been hoping for that for a while now. having to use bumbling Democrats to fight these utterly awful, well organized, and firmly gerrymandered Republicans is exceptionally frustrating. it's like trying to remove shipworms with a toothpick in heavy seas.
 
Helix said:
i've been hoping for that for a while now. having to use bumbling Democrats to fight these utterly awful, well organized, and firmly gerrymandered Republicans is exceptionally frustrating. it's like trying to remove shipworms with a toothpick in heavy seas.
Click to expand...

LOL. One of my mom's favorite expressions was "like poking butter up a cat's butt with a hot knitting needle," but the shipworms analogy works too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom