Outgoing President Trump pardoned Elliott Broidy late Tuesday night, in a grant of clemency to a man who pleaded guilty to a charge relating to an illegal lobbying scheme that involved having Trump play golf with the prime minister of Malaysia.
Only the best pardons…
Does Broidy’s pardon include only the crime to which he pled guilty? If so, he may be making a return visit to a Federal District Court near you. That isn’t the only thing he did - it wasn’t why he was booted out of his position at the RNC, for example.
Looks like Ol’ Porkchop’s paid off his debt to Broidy:
Good F**king riddance to the whole nest of 'em.
Even if not, he may have a whole lot of 5th-amendment invocation in his future, and potential state charges. He would likely do well to roll over.
Do states have light-duty prisons for white-collar criminals? Because otherwise doing state time might be rather less pleasant.
OT- Is Ezra Cohen-Watnick still on the Federal Payroll?
Somebody get him terminated ASAP.
Trump kept telling his cult that Biden’s overly sympathetic to China. It’s worth remembering that in his final hours, Trump slipped a pardon to his close associate Broidy for actually being an unregistered foreign agent of China
No. Since it was a full pardon, it includes all federal crimes with which he’d been charged. The effect of a full pardon on crimes not yet charged has never been tested in court, so that’s an unresolved legal question.
Good discussion of the legal status of “preemptive pardons” here.
Doesn’t that depend on the language in the pardon itself? I haven’t seen the text of Broidy’s pardon, but if it says that he’s pardoned for racking up parking fines in National Parks, that’s the extent of it. If it says that he’s pardoned for all Federal crimes, that’s different.
The legal definition of “full pardon” doesn’t relate to which specific offenses are covered, but to the extent of the pardon:
…some 19th century Supreme Court cases suggest that a full pardon broadly erases both the punishment for an offense and the guilt of the offender. However, more recent precedent recognizes a distinction between the punishment for a conviction, which the pardon obviates, and the fact of the commission of the crime, which may be considered in later proceedings or preclude the pardon recipient from engaging in certain activities.
And:
A full pardon is the most expansive form of clemency; it “releases the wrongdoer from punishment and restores the offender’s civil rights without qualification.”
I don’t think Trump issued any preemptive pardons, which is a very different kettle of fish. Such a pardon would cover any Federal crime committed in the past, even it hadn’t been charged. The legal status of those is murky, at best.
(Quotes from: Presidential Pardons: Overview and Selected Legal Issues - EveryCRSReport.com)
Flynn’s pardon is a pre-emptive pardon, in that it also covers any crimes that might emerge from his indictment and prosecution.
The question is whether is covers any crimes that he might have committed after the pardon was issued. That’s the really pre-emptive kind.
I don’t think that is the question. When people refer to a pre-emptive pardon, they mean one that pardons the perp of existing crimes not yet charged or tried. No one is claiming the president can pardon crimes comitted in the future.
Reading the text of Flynn’s pardon, though, it seems to do just that. If federal investigators asked him tomorrow about something Mueller-related, and he lied again…
I know that you can’t actually do that, but that’s different from whether you can claim to have done that.
…he’d be prosecuted for lying to investigators. It is legally not possible to grant someone a pardon for future crimes.
The WH PR says “full pardon”. There are only a finite number of clemency options. This is one of them.
The legal status of preemptive pardoning has never been determined in court. Full pardon covers all extant charges.
That would not even be a pardon. It would be immunity
But I still think you’re misinterpreting the legal significance of that. A “full pardon” doesn’t mean, “You’re pardoned for everything you’ve ever done.” It means, “You’re pardoned for the crimes listed here, including any and all punishments, fines, etc. It’s as if you never did these listed things.”