Donald Trump still has to answer numerous charges in court. Whether he could pardon himself if re-elected is legally controversial.
Washington, DC – Donald Trump's numerous pardons shortly before he leaves the White House for President Joe Biden had to hand over were nothing unusual in themselves. However, the fact that he used the pardons primarily for the crimes of his close confidants is a novelty. During his term in office, the 77-year-old repeatedly advocated for a self-pardon. A new case highlights the problem with such presidential pardons.
The pardon is one of the most powerful tools available to the incumbent ruler of the USA. Pardoning allows the president to trump the judicial system, provided one has been convicted under federal law. Could be Donald Trump pardon yourself in the event of re-election? The question has not yet been conclusively answered and the problem of a normal pardon is also the subject of lively discussion.
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Trump's pardons have a catch
The criminal history definitely plays a role in a conviction. That's how the judges in the Jesse Benton case see it. Benton was previously convicted in federal court of falsifying documents in the 2012 election and was pardoned by Trump in 2016. However, there is a catch. David Levine, a law professor at the University of California, gave his assessment in an exclusive interview The DailyBeast: “It’s not like completely removing a crime from the books.” The pardon “is very valuable – as long as you don’t get into trouble again.”
The Benton case shows that Trump's pardons have only limited effectiveness
Jesse Benton was reportedly shot up CNN According to him, he was convicted again in an election fraud case because he accepted donations from a Russian businessman for Trump's presidential candidacy in 2016. His previous crime of document forgery was taken into account, even though Trump pardoned him for it. Benton appealed. This Monday (February 12), the Court of Appeal examined the case and reacted skeptically to Benton's reasons, such as Bloomberg Law reported. A final verdict is still pending.
This fate could also befall other criminals pardoned by Trump. The question of whether Trump could clear himself of crimes while in office is a more difficult question. There are largely two opinions among legal experts here.
Can Trump pardon himself as president? Two constitutional lawyers clarify
An article on Axios, a US news website, describes the two perspectives of American constitutional lawyers in the discussion about a president's self-pardon. Some US constitutional lawyers believe that self-pardons are not explicitly barred by the language of the second article of the Constitution. This article grants the President the right to pardon. The only explicitly mentioned exception here is impeachment proceedings. John Yoo, a law professor at Berkeley, argues that a president does have the power to pardon himself.
On the other hand, constitutional lawyers like Frank Bowman see a clear exclusion of self-pardon in the wording of the constitutional text. Bowman, a criminal justice lecturer at the University of Missouri, reasons that the words “pardon” and “grant” imply an exchange between two parties. A self-pardon would therefore be impossible.
Impeachment proceedings could throw a spanner in the works for Trump
Despite these two different perspectives, there is a scholarly consensus on whether a president should pardon himself. Especially in the current political climate in the USA, a self-pardon by the American president would undermine the rule of law and would call into question the country's democratic institutions. Additionally, the president could still be removed from office through impeachment. Even those Trump has already had a trial. (Simon Schröder)
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