A Unilateral Conviction: Pardon Trump When the Hearings End

I have had many conflicted discussions with friends over my contention that Gerald Ford was right to pardon Richard Nixon. I agree with his reasoning that damage wrought by a prolonged trial outweighs the value of proving what everyone knew to be true.

Reading this, I am moving in the same direction for Trump, with some reservations. Basically every sane person in the country now responds to pollsters with agreement that Trump committed crimes. The House committee is doing a great job and will have produced a damning and detailed record of them.

I now think that Biden should, once the House hearing is over very quickly announce a pardon.

A pardon is an ambiguous benefit. It removes the possibility of punishment (which I consider 100% impossible for Trump) but it also removes the possibility of a trial. It eliminates the possible forum where Trump could parade his lies and showboating for literally years.

The announcement should be made with high-minded justification. It is important to bring the country together. We do not want the precedence of subsequent administrations prosecuting each other. Etc. Etc.

But the real message is: The President and the Justice Department join Congress in the belief that he did it.

I imagine Trump screaming that the Jan 6 riot was "PERFECT". With huge recriminations about his stolen election and how weak Mike Pence is. None of that will matter to anyone except that 38% of deluded shitheads.

For the rest of, it means that we can stop paying attention to him and his shenanigans. We can take him and his crimes and potential prosecutions off the table. When a Republican whines about the persecution of Trump, it will sound mighty hollow.

And it will be in the better interest of the country.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/20/opinion/trump-merrick-garland-january-6-committee.html

1 response

Me again. A friend asked me if Trump would/should be "held accountable". It depends on what you mean by "held accountable". My recommendation is to have the Executive Branch declare him Guilty by Pardon. Anyone who isn't a 38-percenter will understand that and he will be held in disgrace. If you mean go to jail, he will not. However, I am 100% certain that he will never, ever see a conviction. He will drag it out in court longer than Bill Cosby. Pardon doesn't change that. It just removes the conflict. Some think an indictment and spending time defending himself is 'accountability', regardless of outcome. My view is that it is too expensive to our culture to do that. It would be years of conflict in court. Not only would everyone come to despise me for writing about my anger at the stupidity of the judicial system but it would serve as an element of bitter dispute FOR YEARS. Worse, it would serve as an inspiration for the shitheads. Every time any decision was made adverse to Trump, it would give fodder to their outrage machine. With a pardon, Trump would scream, Tucker would scream. They would all be insane with anger at the implied insult to their leader. But, there would be no recourse. Trump cannot sue to revoke a pardon. It would be over.

— TQ White II