El congresista Sires critica el abuso del poder de indulto del presidente Trump

With less than 48 hours to go in the Presidency of Donald Trump, criticism continues to come his way, and this criticism has nothing to do with his “orchestrated instructions” to his supporters to march on, attack and seize control of the United States Capitol on January 6.  Or does it?

We all know, deep down, the President still believes the election and his Presidency were stolen from him. As insane as that belief is, Trump continues to do things which make you scratch your head.

Over the past few weeks, Trump has resumed pardoning his allies.  In an opinion piece in The Hill by Budd N. Shenkin and David I. Levine, they state, “In the wake of defeat at the polls, the courts, and the Electoral College, President Donald Trump has resumed pardoning allies and cronies. Undoubtedly more controversial pardons will come in his final days in office. Trump’s abuse of the pardon power harms the nation. Designed to be a benign instrument for dispensing mercy and for quelling civil unrest when warranted, 90 percent of Trump’s pardons have been used for those with personal connections to him or to advance his political goals, such as nullifying the results of the Mueller investigation.

If abuse of the pardon power were unique to Trump, we could perhaps relax on Jan. 20 at noon. Unfortunately, Trump has only accentuated a trend that began when President Gerald Ford pardoned ex-president Richard Nixon, continued when President George H. W. Bush pardoned the Iran-Contra conspirators, and continued further when President Clinton held a “pardon party” on the last day of his presidency. The only good news emanating from President Trump’s abuses is that they are so egregious, they may lead to long-needed reform of the pardon process.

Hoy, el congresista Albio Sires (D-NJ) publicó la siguiente declaración sobre informesque el poder de indulto del Presidente se está utilizando para obtener ganancias financieraspor aquellos que tienen estrechos vínculos con el PresidenteEl número de personas:

” No puedo .En los últimos días de unaEl número deresidencia contaminada por abusosde laSi el poder se ha convertido en un beneficio personal y financiero, no es sorprendente que los aliados del presidente hayan recibido decenas de miles de dólares para presionar al presidente para obtener clemencia. Si ha habido un principio guía del tiempo del presidente Trump en el cargo ha sido que el presidente actúa en su propio interés, no en el mejor interés de nuestra nación. En lugar de defender nuestro sistema de justicia, el presidente corrompió el poder de perdón al cambiar las sentencias y perdonar a varias personas que mintieron durante las investigaciones sobre la interferencia rusa en las elecciones de 2016.así como miembros republicanos de la Cámara que fueron condenados por corrupción– ¿ Qué ?  A menudo ha lanzado perdones preventivos para sus familiares y para sí mismo, una medida sin precedentes que perjudicaríaEn el caso de la Unión Europea, el Parlamento Europeo ha adoptado una política de protección de las personas. A medida que el mandato del presidente Trump se acerca al final, estoy muy preocupado por la corrupción y los abusos de poder en las últimas horas. Incluso después de que Trump haya dejado el cargo, trabajaré con mis colegas para proteger nuestra democracia.y abordar los abusos deelEl poder del perdón. ” No puedo .

The media has even been speculating in recent days whether or not the President will try to pardon himself.  Wouldn’t that be an interesting situation to contemplate?  Shenkin and Levine addressed this possibility, saying “A variety of reforms have been suggested: prohibition of self-pardon, prohibition of pardons of family members, prohibition of pardons during the lame duck period, limitation of pardons to indictments already brought, prohibition of pardons for offenses committed against the judiciary, mandatory adherence to the recommendations of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, greater transparency, and others.”

The hours leading up to 12 noon on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 should be very interesting indeed.