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Manafort: "I kept all your Russia secrets. Can I have my pardon now, Mr. President?"

And obviously he's been angling for a pardon from Trump, but even if that comes, it won't be for a while, because pardoned people forfeit their Fifth Amendment rights, so all the Russia investigations would have to be OVER before Trump can do that.

Manafort: "Whoops."

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I thought the Prez could grant a pardon at any time. Tricky Dick was pardoned before conviction, after all.

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Yes.

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True, but a pardon before conviction does not necessarily stop court proceedings, and one stipulation of a pardon is that the grantee accept responsibility that a crime has taken place, and that they are guilty. This leaves open a gaping Constitutional hole whereby should the (federal) court decide to persue the case, the pardoned individual may be compelled to testify under oath, and I'm not sure what then happens if they commit perjury, but I'm quite sure they have waived the right to plead the Fifth by accepting the pardon.

I'm sure others understand this much better than me.

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And I’m betting that Trump does NOT understand this.

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Pretty sure Manafort is more OK with prison food (which he gets by keeping his mouth shut) than polonium soup.

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Pretty sure Manafort is more OK with prison food (which he gets by keeping his mouth shut) than polonium soup.

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And I’m betting that Trump does NOT understand this.

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True, but a pardon before conviction does not necessarily stop court proceedings, and one stipulation of a pardon is that the grantee accept responsibility that a crime has taken place, and that they are guilty. This leaves open a gaping Constitutional hole whereby should the (federal) court decide to persue the case, the pardoned individual may be compelled to testify under oath, and I'm not sure what then happens if they commit perjury, but I'm quite sure they have waived the right to plead the Fifth by accepting the pardon.

I'm sure others understand this much better than me.

Expand full comment

Yes.

Expand full comment

I thought the Prez could grant a pardon at any time. Tricky Dick was pardoned before conviction, after all.

Expand full comment

Manafort: "I kept all your Russia secrets. Can I have my pardon now, Mr. President?"

And obviously he's been angling for a pardon from Trump, but even if that comes, it won't be for a while, because pardoned people forfeit their Fifth Amendment rights, so all the Russia investigations would have to be OVER before Trump can do that.

Manafort: "Whoops."

Expand full comment