 |
| Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., was convicted by a federal judge of criminal contempt of court, a misdemeanor. (Laura Segall/Reuters) |
If he’ll pardon Arpaio, why wouldn’t Trump pardon those who ignore Robert Mueller?
WASHINGTON POST
That President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio surprised no one who had been paying attention. He had all but said that he was going to do so, soaking up the applause from a friendly audience at a rally in Phoenix when he broached the subject.
----
The broader question raised by the pardon, then, is where Trump would draw the line. If he’s willing to pardon Joe Arpaio for ignoring a court order in service of a political goal Trump embraces, why wouldn’t he pardon another individual he respects for similarly ignoring a demand from the court. Say, a former employee or a family member who, say, was issued a subpoena to testify before a special prosecutor?
One message from the Arpaio pardon is precisely that Trump sees his evaluation of the boundaries of legality as superior to the boundaries set by the legal system. The Constitution gives him that power. ....The presidential pardon is absolute. He can pardon anyone for any federal crime at any time — even before the person actually faces any charges and even if no crime actually took place. There’s nothing anyone can do about it, except to impeach Trump and remove him from office to prevent him from doing it again.
In other words, if any of Trump’s allies decides to tell special counsel Robert Mueller to stick his subpoena in the south side of the National Mall, Mueller can press a court for contempt charges. The person could be convicted of those charges — and then get a pardon identical to Arpaio’s.
Does anyone think that Trump wouldn’t actually do this?
----
For a person in his position, surrounded by a federal investigation into his campaign and his business, that’s got to be appealing. And his pardon of Arpaio makes quite clear that loyalty to Trump can prevail over loyalty to the law.