The GTP Unofficial 2020 US Elections Thread

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I keep hearing talk about this but it doesn’t make sense. How can you pardon somebody who hasn’t yet been charged or convicted? We know the New York Attorney General has been building a case for years but the assumption is, they are waiting until his term is over to officially file charges. Until they do so, and until he has been charged, the talk of issuing a pardon doesn’t make sense. Unless my understanding of the process is completely off base.

Apparently you can.

While pre-emptive pardons remain very rare, there are a few notable exceptions. Perhaps the most famous presidential pardon of all time occurred before any charges were filed. Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon absolved the former president of “all offenses against the United States which he … has committed or may have committed or taken part in” between the date of his inauguration in 1969 and his resignation in August 1974. In other cases, presidents have pardoned individuals after criminal proceedings have begun but before a judgment has been handed down. In late 1992, less than a month before leaving office, President George H.W. Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who had been indicted earlier that year on perjury charges surrounding the Iran-Contra affair. (A lawyer for Roger Clemens’ former trainer Brian McNamee claimed the pitcher might receive a similar pardon from Bush if he were ever indicted.) In addition, broad presidential amnesties—like the one President Carter issued to those who had avoided the draft during the Vietnam War—are essentially pre-emptive pardons issued to a large group of individuals.

If someone hasn’t yet been charged with a crime, how does the president know what to pardon them for? As in Nixon’s case, President Bush could issue a pardon that applies generally to any crimes that may have been committed within a certain range of dates. More likely, a pardon could apply only to actions surrounding a single policy or place—say, the detention or interrogation of suspected al-Qaida members.

 

[McLaren]

Didn't Ford's career nose-dive after pardoning Nixon? Does Pence want to take that chance?

Speaking of which, isn't accepting a pardon also an admission of guilt even if Trump's lawyers likely argue he hasn't committed any? I remember Arpaio being told if he realizes accepting his pardon was such & he immediately argued he didn't admit anything.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Didn't Ford's career nose-dive after pardoning Nixon? Does Pence want to take that chance?

Speaking of which, isn't accepting a pardon also an admission of guilt even if Trump's lawyers likely argue he hasn't committed any? I remember Arpaio being told if he realizes accepting his pardon was such & he immediately argued he didn't admit anything.

Trump would have to resign before Pence could pardon him. Pence could then...just not do that.

 

[McLaren]

Trump would have to resign before Pence could pardon him. Pence could then...just not do that.

Does Pence have to ask Mother first.

 

[andrea]

Bruh lmao

 

[TheHun99]

Bruh lmao

get ready for the show LOL

 

[CodeRedR51]

How long can they draw out this lawsuit crap before they are forced to give up and run home with their tail between their legs?

 

[TexRex]

How long can they draw out this lawsuit crap before they are forced to give up and run home with their tail between their legs?

Yes.

 

[Crash]

I'd be interested to know if his rhetoric about giving jobs back to those who felt disenfranchised was in any way followed through on or whether it was just hyperbole like his lip service to the evangelicals has been. Do his supporters feel he has improved their lives at all or is this lip service sufficient enough to satisfy their hunger of seeing damage done to the Washington Establishment?

It seems to me like for a lot of those angry, downtrodden Trump supporters who feel ignored and subsequently bought into his rhetoric, even if the day-to-day reality isn't any better, they took comfort in feeling like the "liberals" and the "elites" who at the surface seem to be doing so well were being brought down a peg by Trump. The whole, if I can't win, then I'm taking you down with me, mentality.

I keep hearing talk about this but it doesn’t make sense. How can you pardon somebody who hasn’t yet been charged or convicted? We know the New York Attorney General has been building a case for years but the assumption is, they are waiting until his term is over to officially file charges. Until they do so, and until he has been charged, the talk of issuing a pardon doesn’t make sense. Unless my understanding of the process is completely off base.

Presidential pardons still only cover Federal charges/convictions and does not cover State charges/convictions.

 

[Keef]

Prediction: Trump will resign, Pence will pardon him

Interesting premise and I can't imagine Trump will want to be a lame-duck president for even 5 minutes. Still though...seems a stretch.

Pardon him from what? He hasn’t been convicted of anything.

No charges will be pursued against him until Biden is sworn in.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Yes.

Well hopefully the timeline for Biden being sworn in, etc will continue as it should.

 

[Spacegoat]

How long can they draw out this lawsuit crap before they are forced to give up and run home with their tail between their legs?

You just know for the next four years that Trumpo will refer to himself as the "real, legitimate" president. They'll never admit defeat.

 

[andrea]

get ready for the show LOL

It’s like a grift orgy over there. No one knows who’s grifting who anymore.

 

[Liquid]

Prediction: Trump will resign, Pence will pardon him

What a little bitch.

 

[Scaff]

Bruh lmao

Let’s see if he can keep his hands out of his pants long enough...

 

[DK]

Didn't Ford's career nose-dive after pardoning Nixon? Does Pence want to take that chance?

I'm sure he'll be well-compensated by some fossil fuel/tobacco company.

 

[BobK]

Pardon him from what? He hasn’t been convicted of anything.

No charges will be pursued against him until Biden is sworn in.

It's been mentioned already, but neither convictions nor actual accusations are required for a pardon, the best-known example being President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon:

Ford granted to Richard Nixon, his predecessor, a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes that he might have committed against the United States as president.[1][2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon_of_Richard_Nixon

 

[Imari]

Prediction: Trump will resign, Pence will pardon him

Interesting premise and I can't imagine Trump will want to be a lame-duck president for even 5 minutes. Still though...seems a stretch.

I'm not sure that Trump's ego would allow him to go through with resigning. That's awfully like admitting failure. I have a nasty suspicion that he would rather fight in the courts knowing that he can probably drag the stuff out for the rest of his life. Or just bail to Russia once he's out of office.

 

[Liquid]

Or just bail to Russia once he's out of office.

Which wouldn't be at all suspicious; a former head of state of one country living in the country that has proven to interfere in your country's elections, of your election, and put bounties on the heads of your own soldiers.

 

[TexRex]

Which wouldn't be at all suspicious; a former head of state of one country living in the country that has proven to interfere in your country's elections, of your election, and put bounties on the heads of your own soldiers.

But what a way to own the libs.

 

[Dotini]

Update on the governors races:

Eleven states held elections for governor on November 3, 2020. Incumbents won nine of the races. Spencer Cox (R) won in Utah, where the Republican incumbent did not run for re-election. Greg Gianforte (R) won in Montana, making it the only governorship to change partisan control in 2020. As a result of the 2020 elections, Republicans will hold 27 governorships to Democrats' 23 beginning in 2021.
https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2020:_Partisan_balance_of_governors

Update on the Congressional races:

• As of Nov. 13, the winners of 420 of 435 U.S. House races have been determined. Democrats have won 218 seats, maintaining their majority in the chamber. Republicans have won 202 seats.
• Twelve seats have changed partisan control. Republicans gained nine seats—eight from Democrats and one currently held by Libertarian Justin Amash, who didn't run for re-election. Democrats gained three seats, one in Georgia and two in North Carolina. The Democratic pickups were all in open-seat races. Click here to see a chart listing the U.S. House seats that changed parties.

Update on the Senate races:

• Control of the U.S. Senate has not yet been determined, and we might not know which party holds a majority until January. So far, we've called 33 of the 35 races that took place. Democrats had a net gain of one seat—they flipped two seats in Colorado and Arizona, while Republicans flipped Alabama's seat. Based on results called so far, the 117th Congress will have 50 Republican senators, 46 Democratic senators, and two independent senators that caucus with the Democrats. Sen. Thom Tillis (R) was declared the winner of the U.S. Senate seat from North Carolina on Thursday.
  • Georgia is one of two states, alongside Louisiana, that hold runoffs if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in a general election. Four of the five national outlets Ballotpedia is using to call races have called incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) and Raphael Warnock (D) as proceeding to a Jan. 5 special election runoff. Two have called Sen. David Perdue (R) and Jon Ossoff (D) as proceeding to a runoff in the regularly scheduled election.

 

[Joey D]

Burgess Ownes is corrupt, took illegal money, plagiarized his book, is a QAnon supporter, and more than likely has CTE leading to mental health issues. But still managed to win Utah's 4th District. Christ on a cracker.

I'm actually surprised people in St. George voted for someone who's black too, after all, they think blacks should be picking cotton instead of being in a position of power.

 

[Liquid]

Burgess Ownes is corrupt, took illegal money, plagiarized his book, is a QAnon supporter, and more than likely has CTE leading to mental health issues.

He sounds overqualified.

 

[Tornado]

I'm surprised he's not already in Trump's cabinet.

 

[Grayfox]

In UK elections (1/5th of the US population but 2.5x Australian population) the count is done and verified overnight after a 10pm closing of the polling stations.

Dont know how the UK voting system is but in Australia it is Run Off Voting, and parties can give their votes to another party IIRC,

 

[Grayfox]

Prediction: Trump will resign, Pence will pardon him

Would be funny if Pence, doesnt pardon him.
A backstab would be nice, but unlikely.

I cant see Trump resigning, resigning is him admitting defeat.
He doesn't want to admit that he is a loser.

Pardon him from what? He hasn’t been convicted of anything.

No charges will be pursued against him until Biden is sworn in.

No charges, but will protect him from those tax evasion charges that are incoming.

 

[Danoff]

Trump accidentally tweeted of the election:



Ooops... Even Trump knows "he won". As we all know, he doesn't believe the nonsense he's feeding his supporters.

 

[Rossell2]

Proof if anything that he doesn't think before he tweets.

We've known that since day one but hard to see him closing the floodgates from that.

 

[McLaren]

Trump accidentally tweeted of the election:



Ooops... Even Trump knows "he won". As we all know, he doesn't believe the nonsense he's feeding his supporters.

He walked it back. He said Biden only won in the eyes of "FAKE NEWS MEDIA" or something to that regard.

 

[NotThePrez]

Trump accidentally tweeted of the election:



Ooops... Even Trump knows "he won". As we all know, he doesn't believe the nonsense he's feeding his supporters.

Christ-On-A-Bike this is just pathetic now. The desperation shown by Trump, his administration and his supporters is ridiculous. And Watters text is also diabolically obtuse.