![]() Under the rules of a second Trump presidency, Nixon would have been well within his rights to order the Department of Justice to stop investigating Watergate and then pardon himself and all the burglars for the break-in and cover-up.Īfter Trump was elected in 2016, he was quickly surrounded by prominent and influential people who recognized that he was a lawless menace. ![]() If Trump can be president, then the United States owes a huge retrospective apology to Richard Nixon. (For that matter, the vice president could murder the president in the Oval Office and then immediately pardon herself.) If a president can order the attorney general to stop a federal case against him-as Trump would surely do-then obstruction of justice becomes a normal prerogative of the presidency. If a president can pardon himself for federal crimes-as Trump would likely try to do-then he could write his pardon in advance and shoot visitors to the White House. The existing constitutional system has no room for the subversive legal maneuvers of a criminal in chief. government? Will the staff of the Justice Department resign? Will people march in the streets? Will the military obey or refuse orders to suppress demonstrations? ![]() Will the Senate confirm Trump nominees who were chosen because of their willingness to help the president lead a coup against the U.S. (5) If these lawless actions ignite protests in American cities, order the military to crush them.Ī restored Trump would lead the United States into a landscape of unthinkable scenarios. (4) End the independence of the civil service and fire federal officials who refuse to carry out Trump’s commands. (3) Send the Department of Justice into action against Trump adversaries and critics. (2) Pardon and protect those who tried to overturn the 2020 election on Trump’s behalf. ![]() For his own survival, he would have to destroy the rule of law.įrom Trump himself and the people around him, we have a fair idea of a second Trump administration’s immediate priorities: (1) Stop all federal and state cases against Trump, criminal and civil. The president would be an outlaw, or on his way to becoming an outlaw. But the government cannot function with an indicted or convicted criminal as its head. Even in the turmoil of the 1960s, even during the Great Depression, the country had a functional government with the president as its head. If he wins the election, Trump will commit the first crime of his second term at noon on Inauguration Day: His oath to defend the Constitution of the United States will be a perjury.Ī second Trump term would instantly plunge the country into a constitutional crisis more terrible than anything seen since the Civil War. It’s not impossible that he may already have been convicted in at least one of them. When people wonder what another Trump term might hold, their minds underestimate the chaos that would lie ahead.īy Election Day 2024, Donald Trump will be in the thick of multiple criminal trials. In a second, Trump would arrive with a much better understanding of the system’s vulnerabilities, more willing enablers in tow, and a much more focused agenda of retaliation against his adversaries and impunity for himself. In his first term, Trump’s corruption and brutality were mitigated by his ignorance and laziness. Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |