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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Arpaio Pardon Is a Bad Sign for the Mueller Investigation
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/08/trump_s_arpaio_pardon_is_a_bad_sign_for_mueller_s_investigation.htmlAug. 26 2017 3:26 PM
The Arpaio Pardon Is a Bad Sign for the Mueller Investigation
Trump has always wanted to stifle judicial oversight. Now hes shown he will.
By Mark Joseph Stern
When President Donald Trump pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday, he tweeted that the sheriff was an American patriot who kept Arizona safe! His pardon was, in one sense, narrow: Arpaio was not convicted for his relentless and well-documented brutality, but for criminal contempt after he violated a court order demanding that he stop illegally detaining Latinos. In another sense, however, Trumps pardonwhich was accompanied by a White House statement praising Arpaio and eliding his misdeedsbroadly condones the sheriffs relentless criminality. It sends a message to Latinos that they do not deserve equal rights, and affirms to the judiciary that Trump has no respect for the rule of law.
But Trumps pardon of the sheriff is also troubling for its timing. The political nature of the pardon is obvious; it vividly demonstrates Trumps willingness to abuse his presidential powers in order to let his friends and supporters off the hook. But just as notable is that it came right on the heels of the presidents Phoenix rally, as the president is being pressured to disavow the most racist elements of his base. Whats even worse is the fact that the pardon arrived without review, and before Arpaio was even sentenced for defying the courts. As my colleague Dahlia Lithwick has written, Arpaios conviction was a test for how long and how willing Trump will be to abide judicial oversight. He flunked it. It now seems clear that many future beneficiaries of the presidents clemency will be his political alliesand that he might not wait to for them to be convicted or sentenced before issuing a pardon. Trump, in other words, may use his pardon power to stymie Robert Muellers investigation, as well as other inquiries into the past misdeeds of his associates.
The commonalities between Arpaio and Trump are striking. Both men disdain the rule of law, and Arpaios unrestrained racial profiling and harassment of perceived enemieshe arrested journalists who wrote about him criticallyall sound like true expressions of Trumps own deep desires. Trump and Arpaio were first drawn to each other over their belief that President Barack Obamas Hawaiian birth certificate was forged. (Somehow, Arpaio found the money to send an investigator to Hawaii, who concluded, falsely, that the certificate was fraudulent.) Their bond deepened during the campaign: Arpaio endorsed Trump early, then stumped for him and appeared at campaign events where the two men lauded each other for their hatred of undocumented immigrants. In 2016, Glenn Thrush called Arpaio Trumps political godfather and described the sheriffs profound affection for Trump. The two shared startlingly similar bigotries, biases, and strongman instincts.
Its no surprise, then, that Trump wished to pardon Arpaio. But it is genuinely shocking that the president followed through, and did so in this manner. There has long been a careful procedure in place for the pardon process: Individuals submit a request for clemency, and the Justice Department recommends good candidates based on pre-approved guidelines. Trump didnt bother even to pretend to use this system to pardon Arpaio. The sheriff hadnt formally requested one, the usual first step in the process. And he hadnt yet been sentenced. Typically, an individuals sentence plays a key role in the presidents clemency decision; President Barack Obama, for example, commuted the sentences of many prisoners who, he felt, had served enough time. Trump didnt need to wait for a sentence.
snip//
Trump and Arpaio share many dangerous beliefs, and given power, both men use it to shamelessly silence and impede their opponents. Trump has realized that he can use his pardon power to bypass the lawyers and judges and investigators he so despises. Arpaio was a test run. Now he will know it works.
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The Arpaio Pardon Is a Bad Sign for the Mueller Investigation (Original Post)
babylonsister
Aug 2017
OP
well i hope there are enuff state related charges to make someone pay for something
samnsara
Aug 2017
#1
samnsara
(17,635 posts)1. well i hope there are enuff state related charges to make someone pay for something
defacto7
(13,485 posts)2. He's shown he'll cause a crisis if he feels like it.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)3. We will know how this plays out .
Like the so called Pardon of the Racist Sheriff Arpaio, Fox News let the charge behind the scenes or should we say,Rupert Murdoch lead the Charge.
And as evidence tells everyone,Donnie Dipstick loves to needle we Liberals by doing something outlandish. As the noose closes around Donnie dipstick's fat neck,he will go Postal with our Nation.
And the GOP owns this POS lock,stock,and Barrel. We will see legal activities against members of this Administration for a decade.
OnDoutside
(19,970 posts)4. We badly need the foreign Intel to leak Trump voice tapes if
They exist.
They couldn't walk away from that.... Its why Trump is trying to stop the evidence coming out.