Pardon Me; an Exit Strategy:

Question: Should Trump issue himself a Pardon?

If One is willing to observe, objectively, what he and his family have endured over the last 4 plus years, the seemingly endless and unsubstantiated assaults, the election travesty of this past November and the harassment (as a tool for silencing him) that will likely follow once out of office I see only one rational response to the question: Absolutely.

Will it matter? Understanding that a Presidential Pardon’s affect applies only to Federal Statutes so, in truth, Trump is going to have to rely on the strength of his political capital, as still the de facto head of the Republican Party, to protect him against litigation promulgated from the State level and failing that, fairly deep pockets.

“True, Trump currently holds the privileges and burdens associated with the Office of the Presidency however he is first and foremost a Citizen of the Nation that Office is sworn to serve and whose laws are equally applied.”

Perhaps the better question is whether Pres. Trump has the capacity to issue himself a pardon and I believe that the structure does provide him that ability as there is no specific prohibition preventing him from doing so.  On the other hand this type of pardon has never been tested by/thru the judicial review process and yet there are several occasions where One might review Individuals who, while serving in positions of authority, vote/decide in favor of actions which provide them a benefit individually and on occasions equally with their fellow Citizens. For example:

  • Legislators voting themselves pay/benefits enhancements.
  • Judges rendering decisions that have the force and effect of law the result of which apply to them, as Individual Citizens, as well.

It is for the same reason that One cannot suspend the benefit of a beneficial effect of a Law on someone other than themselves (or should they be able to) or that One should not be held to account for the action of another which they’ve no contributory or participatory relation. In other words, while I may choose not to own a gun that should not be construed as to mean or infer that you do not have the right to own a gun or that because I choose not to own a gun, and while I don’t object to you owning one, that I should then be equally responsible for what you do with the gun you own.

The point of this logic-test is simply to demonstrate while you may dislike Trump or Biden or anyone else for that matter if you are going to claim the proofing tool of “equal protection under the law” and that the “Presidential Pardon”, being a privilege of the Office codified in the Law or as generally accepted as such, then it must be equally applied otherwise you’ve then instituted two disciplines of justice, one equal application of the law and something approaching the duality of what can only be described as indiscriminate injustice.

The final expression of “equal justice under the law” is merely a concept until proven that there are no exceptions to its privilege or its burden; this simple concept must be applied uniformly in precisely the same way any law signed by the President/Legislator would be equally applicable to both.

True, Trump currently holds the privileges and burdens associated with the Office of the Presidency however he is first and foremost a Citizen of the Nation that Office is sworn to serve and whose laws are equally applied.

Curtis C. Greco, Founder

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