Dear Lord, some days it just falls into your lap! Rachel Maddow just reported that a whole bunch of people that were a part of Trump’s last, desperate pardon dump, may not quite the protection that they think that they have. And it would be due to exactly the same thing that has dogged the Trump Presidency manifest incompetence.
These revelations are courtesy of Andrew Weissmann, a former Mueller prosecutor, who prosecuted several cases stemming from the Russia investigation. When he suddenly found himself with some spare time on his hands, he decided to read through some of the Trump pardons, and he wound that they had some serious slaws.
Here’s a for instance. Let’s just take a look at Trump’s disgraced former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Trump’s pardon of Manafort absolved him of all crimes of which he was convicted. That seems pretty cut and dry, right? But the fact of the matter is that Manafort pleaded guilty to multiple other charges that were dropped in return for his conviction. But he still pleaded guilty to them. And was never convicted, die to the plea agreement. Which leaves open the possibility that a US Attorney could go back into Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s court, resurrect those guilty pleas, and ask that Manafort be sentenced for them!
And the same thing goes for Roger Stone! He too pled guilty to multiple other charges that were held in abeyance in return for his guilty plea. But now that Stone has been pardoned, there is nothing to stop prosecutors from returning to Judge Berman Jackson’s courtroom, resurrecting all of those guilty pleas and asking that Stone be sentenced for them. And considering what a total pain that Stone was in Judge Berman Jackson’s ass, I cannot imagine that she wouldn’t salivate over throwing the book at him.
And here comes the best part, the one that gives me solid wood all day. Michael Fucking Flynn. Once again, Trump pardoned Flynn for all crimes for which he was convicted. But again, Flynn pled guilty to multiple other charges, that were held in abeyance, in return for his guilty plea. And again, there is nothing to stop US Attorneys from returning to Judge Emmett Sullivan’s court and ask that Flynn be sentenced for those guilty pleas. And considering the fact that Judge Sullivan asked the US Attorneys if there was a reason why Flynn wasn’t charged with treason in the first place, I can only imagine his glee at the prospect of another shot at Flynn.
This is the real problem when you do things now on the cheap. GIGO. Garbage In, Garbage Out. And as a result of Trump’s ignorance, a whole bunch of people who are sitting at home right now, thinking they’re clear and free, could end up facing sentences longer than the ones they pleaded guilty to. What a perfect ending!
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to check out President Evil, and the sequel, President Evil II, A Clodwork Orange . They comprise a pretty much daily report from the front of the 2016 GOP primaries, as well as the general election
Follow me on Twitter at @RealMurfster35
Lady Karma may be working overtime this year! I hope Biden finds a position for Andrew Weissman because he’s brilliant and deserves the opportunity to take Trump down.
Slow down, fix all of your typos! Takes from the story about his incompetence when even your title has a typo. Your articles have them often.
Mary, I’m not sure how long you’ve been around here, but Murf has some significant vision issues which makes him more prone to “typos” than most. Most of us have learned how to read what he means and only “correct” him when the intent is not absolutely clear because of the typo (a very rare situation). I feel it’s far more important that he not make an error of fact rather than his correcting a typo or fifteen.
I’d also point out that the very first part of your comment is a run-on sentence. It should be “Slow down and fix all of your typos” or “Slow down; fix all of your typos” or “Slow down. Fix all of your typos.” You’ve got two separate clauses separated by a simple comma.
Then your second sentence lacks a stated subject. That is only acceptable when using the imperative form.
Thank you for this, Joseph. Perfect.
YES
Standard FYI on a Murf article: he has glaucoma, thus editing is a challenge. DBAD about how it doesn’t come up to your precious standards with this in mind. Christ and Heru, how many times do I have to tell you people this?
Thank you for beating me to pointing that out. People need to know what’s up before criticizing. Bonus: you taught me a new acronym, lol.
what’s the acronym? And I am NOT that other Mary
DBAD = Don’t Be A D (think Richard Nixon’s nickname).
DBAD= Don’t Be A Dick.
Thanks, Bareshark, for being protective of our Murf. My husband has glaucoma, too. (((((((((Murf))))))))).
Well, goddamn, Old, I effing hate these grammar ninnys just assuming they know the whole story and thinking how a man like Murf needs a talking to like he went against the Ten Commandments of English Grammar. It’s asshole talk and you KNOW how I feel about assholes.
Right on, Bareshark.
You might end up like me, not seeing the typos until after hitting enter. And then you can’t fix them.
Love Murf as he is. He always cheers us up.
Well, it’s not like he had to spell ‘pardon’.
And people wonder why I was confident no one too closely associated with Trump was ever getting away with it.
[email protected], whoever is dumb will always do that dumb things. Nobody should be surprised about DT ending up dumbling.
He’s a Republiscam.
That he is…though FYI, do take care not to leave your email address out in the open like that. It’s an open invite for the demoralized troll brigade to come after you.
Thank you for the gift of the word, ‘dumbling’.
The best part of this story to me, someone 10 months from being 60, is you saying “that gives me solid wood all day”. Holy crap Joe, I KNOW you are a few trips around the sun older than me, and if YOU can still get it up, there might be hope for me yet!!!!! 🙂 🙂
As someone once astutely pointed out, Uncle Joe has been planning this presidency for 50 years. Anyone who underestimates him as an adversary is asking for it. He is to politicians what George Miller is to film directors.