Hello! I was scrolling along until I saw an article about a Pardon in Texas. In the comment section people talked about how pardons are even still a thing and one User pointed out that they are totally easy to abuse. Like why can’t a governor hire a hitman to kill his political Opponents and then just pardon him? Would this be possible? Can a governor or let’s say the president just straight up do that?
Thank you all in advance!
It’s a matter of political will; the Supreme Court is still deciding on the argument from Trump’s defense that assassinating a rival could be considered an official act. In a sane world they would be laughed out of court, but the GOP has stacked the bench and these justices have to now weigh their corrupt intent against how much they care about the legitimacy of the court.
It’s entirely possible that the question has never been considered, and that it is technically legal. In that case we should probably close that gap, and soonish.
they care about the legitimacy of the court
it’s just amusing to see these words put together in this way.
Yes, probably. That being said, I see two immediate consequences to this.
Hiring a hitman is illegal, so the president could still be prosecuted for this. Assuming the House/Senate aren’t complete morons, they would impeach and convict the president.
Once the hitman is pardoned, he would lose his 5th amendment protection. If his testimony couldn’t be used to convict him, then the court could compel testimony against anyone involved. Which would make unraveling the conspiracy slightly easier.
Hiring a hitman is illegal, so the president could still be prosecuted for this. Assuming the House/Senate aren’t complete morons, they would impeach and convict the president.
Doesn’t the US hire thousands of hitmen with drones and call it the army? Or the CIA? The president can have someone killed no problem using the tools of the state.
There is even a case where the US used a drone to murder a US citizen abroad, extrajudicially. Apparently those “guaranteed rights” mean nothing when they don’t want them to.
But good luck convincing almost any Americans of this as the propaganda is strong and the populace idiotic.
