Doing so by taking care of a staunch supporter, and fiercely anti-Latino and anti-immigrant law enforcement activist, and throwing raw meat to his supporters, and instead poking his thumb into the judicial system’s eye and that of the Latino community.
Oh, and he gives a great signal to other law enforcement officials that, hey, if you break the law or a court order in a way Trump likes … well, hey, he has your back.
Also, doing this on a night when everyone’s paying attention to a massive hurricane hitting the Gulf coast? Yeah, that’s true Presidential leadership.
It is certainly in Trump’s Constitutional purview to issue Presidential Pardons. There is no recourse from that. But while former Presidents have at times issued pardons that were sometimes a bit dodgy or cronyesque, they’ve usually come about during the end of a presidential term, and quietly — not as a public statement that was vetted by an early leak, and then discussed aloud at a political rally, and then done on a Friday night in the middle of a major national disaster.
Trump’s attitude about all of this come through with appalling clarity at the Phoenix rally — strutting about with a Mussoliniesque thrust-out jaw and smirkful pandering to his swooning followers at the event.
This is not normal. This is not what a President of the United States should be doing.
The implications for the legal issues around the Russia investigation — possible obstruction charges, possible charges against a variety of folk who could be similarly preemptively pardoned — are significant.
Trump pardons former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio
Arpaio was scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 5 after being convicted of contempt of court.
This was, essentially, a political statement — not a favor to a buddy (which other presidents have done, to their discredit), but as a statement: "You can't stop me, you can't stop my buds, stupid judges can't stand in my way — and, oh, Latinos, you already knew I don't care about you, but I just wanted to confirm that."
+Dave Hill you're just not wise enough to realise that President Trump is good for America.
Il Duce ha sempre ragione!
On the topic of Latin leaders; I heard some of the Phoenix speech and, as it progressed, I thought, "This sounds like the kind of speech Fidel Castro used to give in his heyday."
who cares Trump and Arpaio are about to die already look how old and fat they are soon both of them will get a heart attack and they will be on their way to hell the mfs
+Michael Dale Ah! Of course. I'm just not wise enough to recognize the fundamental goodness of Trump. Got it.
Of course, I'm also not a Nazi Germany apologist (https://plus.google.com/u/0/102883694077731020740/posts/azsLXyRTfER, https://plus.google.com/u/0/102883694077731020740/posts/52VFTSNPepz) and Holocaust denier (https://plus.google.com/u/0/102883694077731020740/posts/T2RY7sPn6uX), so maybe I don't want to be as "wise" as you. Good-bye.
+Miguel R Valladares Regardless of the timing of their fates or their final destinations (neither of which I'm qualified to judge), the damage to lives and the fabric of this nation they've done and likely will do remain significant.
Arpaio has been an avid supportor of Trump for years, more than that he has helped immensely when Trump has needed him.
Most notably on the controversy over where Obama was born and is he even an American citizen
+leif johnson Obama is and has always been an America/US citizen, get over it.
Nice
excelsiorstore.us the. the ones who
excelsiorstore.us the. the ones who
Stop the bull WAPO. Obama pardoned left wingers. Arpaio was just doing the job he was elected to do-upholding the law. Why do you lefties want to see illegals overrun the country so badly. I think it's really because you do not like traditional American values, especially the association with Christianity.
Thank you Dave for sacrificing your time to post and allow President Trump access to your thoughts that you think so much of Him that He's allowed to occupy residency in your mind and emotions, 'thats quite an Honor you and all these people who comment have bestowed upon Him and i personally just want to extend a genuine, and heartfelt sincere , thank you
As an entertainer im fully aware that 'all publicity is "Good publicity…again thank you, appreciatively, colleen*
+Michael Dale he's not even good for whites.
+Colleen that sounds sarcastic
+Colleen or maybe it is. LOL.
We don't get pardon for breaking the law. What makes this guy special. By the looks of him he looks like a foreigner. The kind you see on the street, and you cross over to the other side. Just saying.
+Oluwanifemi Awosanmi It is trying to be sarcastic, it's childish, bitter and twisted! a common trait of Trumpeters.
Trump pardons Sherrif Arpaio and libs are FURIOUS.
Hey.
You all act like he pardoned someone that leaked classified military information and insisted on having a sex change that was funded by taxpayer money WHILE IN PRISON or something.
+Jeff Hanneman We've been over this already.
Chelsea Manning was not pardoned, she had her sentence commuted.
Her conviction was not vacated, meaning she is still considered guilty of the crime she was convicted of, only the length of her sentence was changed.
But if Trump is permitted to hand out executive clemency to someone who has no respect for the laws they swore to uphold, then Obama was permitted to reduce the sentence of whoever he wished to as well.
Maybe time for you to stop letting your bigotry blind you to the obvious.
This guy pardons a criminal, that sheriff broke the law over and over. He paid the court orders no fucking mind. Now this asshole pardons him before he do anytime. Thats foul.
Well please remember Obama pardoned a lot of people too. Just saying
+Sue Morris It took over 2 years before Obama exercised his power to pardon. Trump is feeling his way through this to make sure it works. So when it's time to pardon himself and his family he'll know it works. It's call obstruction of justice. This con man keeps fooling you.
He pardon low crimes individuals that didn't belong in the system. But this sheriff is a criminal racist bigot.
Obama pardons convicted cop killer and Terrorist
http://www.npr.org/2017/01/18/510472500/obama-grants-clemency-to-puerto-rican-fighter-oscar-lopez-rivera
While Trump does have the power of Executive Clemency, ( The correct legal term), historically presidents follow certain conventions when applying this power.
Normally petitioners are not considered for clemency until 5 years after their convictions, this is not a law or rule however, merely the convention all other presidents have followed, (yes, Obama too, before anyone attempts the old false equivalency argument).
This 5 year convention preserves the right of the convicted criminal to appeal their conviction or sentence in the normal manner, before appealing for clemency from the president.
While we are mentioning Obama, Obama actually vacated very few convictions, preferring commutation of sentences instead.
Executive clemency does not declare those convicted innocent, the conviction remains valid, vacating it merely means law enforcement and the judiciary ignore that conviction, but it's not forgotten, merely forgiven, in the judicial sense.
Commutation does not vacate the conviction at all, it's neither forgiven or forgotten, it's just the sentence that is changed.
Simple enough to understand one would think….
The problem with this executive clemency order is the message it sends to others like Arpaio, that it fine to ignore or breach the constitutional rights of citizens, that it;'s fine to ignore and disobey court injunctions, because Trump decides what the law of the land is, and is quite happy to pardon anyone who's views on law and order are similar to his own.
No one in the USA is above the law, whether they be legal citizens, illegal immigrants or the highest executive in the government, or judge on the bench, all are equal under the law.
+Jeff Hanneman clemency is not a pardon, when are you going to learn the difference?
Those are criminals who have had their sentences shortened, they remain convicted criminals.
But why bother with facts when you can just blame Obama for what Trump has done.
If it was wrong for Obama to grant clemency, then it's wrong for Trump to do so, and vice versa.
+Xevier Red noone is fooling me you have your opinion and I have mine have a nice day
12 pardons Obama gave
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/the-limits-of-obama-mercy/383870/
+Jeff Hanneman Boo Hoo, still crying because someone has the balls to stand up and point out you know almost nothing about the law of your own land?
Try insulting me next time, because that's no insult to me, it's either something I'd do, therefore not insulting, or something I would not, therefore irrelevant, much like you.
+Sue Morris mine's not an opinion. Don't get mad.
I would hate if you two ever came eyeball to eyeball you guys have a good day
+Jeff Hanneman Boo Hoo, Obama followed the law and used his constitutionally granted powers to vacate and commute.
How many of those took place before sentencing?
I can tell you right now, 0.
How many of those convictions were less than 5 years old, again, 0.
Trump just broke an unbroken convention on the use of his powers, and ignored the 5 year waiting period all other presidents have followed since the establishment of the Republic.
But keep crying, I'm sure loving the sweet taste of failure in your tears and rage….
+Jeff Hanneman Boo Hoo, try to keep up, Obama is no longer president, get over it and stop crying about it, you lost two terms in a row, and still haven't got over it.
Time to grow up and take responsibility for the idiot you helped put in the Executive, the guy who thinks he's the law.
Oh believe me i don't get mad
+Jeff Hanneman Cry some more, if you hate education that much, try crying in one of your right wing echo chambers, not in public posts in an international social media site.
Get over it and try acting like an adult, for a change.
I don't care what Obama did, plenty of people objected, protested and insulted him at the time, and it's history now.
Try dealing with the present, instead of living in the past.
+Sue Morris you're in bed with Trump so it really doesn't matter what he does. It's cool.
I warned you you've had your head stuck up your ass to long remove it and move along weird one
+Jeff Hanneman Awww, does the widdle right winger need a safe space to cry in? Maybe keep an eye on that blood pressure, you're starting to sound a bit red in the face…..
+Jeff Hanneman Pussy gun then, about what I expected, try a real man gun, like a 7,62 GPMG or L96 ….
Ah, the joys of sleeping in and seeing what's going on in one's stream.
+Jeff Hanneman, your language isn't welcome here (and, based on the vileness in your profile, neither are you).
+leif johnson You're correct that he has been an avid Trump supporter. Not sure why that qualifies him in getting a presidential pardon.
On the other hand, though Arpaio certainly offered "help" in trying to prove that Obama wasn't born a US Citizen (at Arizona taxpayers expense, as I recall) … he seems to have fallen far short in that effort.
+Colleen You've a worthwhile point — letting someone so into one's head is a dangerous thing.
On the other hand, Trump is the President; it's not like one can simply ignore him and he'll go away.
+Wendell Sheriff Arpaio had been instructed on the law, via a court order to stop using racial profiling in just pulling over any Latinos his forces came across to see if they were there illegally. He chose to ignore that, and the consequences came from that choice of his.
I'm not particularly interested in having "illegals overrun the country". On the other hand, if "traditional American values" are the ones that folk like Jeff Hanneman (or Arpaio or Trump) espouse, then they certainly seem in need of a change.
As a side note, if "lefties" wanted to get rid of Christianity, they would be more adamant about keeping the largely Christian Latin American folk out of the US.
+Dave Hill Sorry about some, (but not all), of that, way to easy to get carried away when trying to educate some people.
Would have no problems if you wished to delete some of the more heinous replies I made to the departed fascist ….
Trump still better than Obama or Hillary
+steve taylor A bit over-zealous at times perhaps, but generally within the bounds of propriety, certainly in comparison.
+steve taylor I and I'm sure many others would disagree with your statement that no one is above the law in the USA, if anything it seems that quite a few people are above the law in this country
+leif johnson Perhaps many would disagree, maybe I should rephrase.
No one in the United States of America should be above the law, since that would be contrary to the constitution put forth by the founders.
Better?
+Dave Hill yes I didn't finish my thought on that comment, what I was saying is that of course he would do that for Arpaio, when called on, by Trump to show the that Obama was not a U.S. citizen, Arpaio did his best to do what he could for Trump.
This obviously is something Trump values, regardless of what the outcome was.
In other words Trump rewards loyalty, quite simple
+steve taylor thank you, although I wasn't originally making that statement as a critique to what you were saying, in any case I appreciate your thoughtfulness
+leif johnson Which is how one is suppose to run the Mafia, not the United States federal government.
Trump's loyalty also seems to be a one-way thing — he has no compunction about stabbing folk in the back once he thinks they are more of a drag on him than a help. While the loyalty aspect was a driver in this pardon, the further messages it sends to the racists and nativists and white nationalists in his base, to the judiciary, and to his cohorts under investigation over the whole Russia thang, were also in his calculus.
+Dave Hill It's not racial profiling if you're trying to enforce the law. I know many Judges rule that way, but I think are seriously wrong. The wrong started there. Other administrations had not so accused the Sheriff . Certainly Obama and Clinton pardoned people who had really done bad things and the press only yawned.
I think your side is going win. We are going to wind up with a nation of thugs and illegals who will vote radical left. The radical left will wil temporary and I predict that you won't like living here either. American greatness replaced with poverty and lawless, God blasphemed.
I see this as a battle of 2 kingdoms. The Bible predicts a time when the forces of evil will prevail for a time. But God will take care of his people, even in death. And someday, not too long, things will be reversed and true justice will be done for all regardless of demographic. The only discriminating factor being the true color of a person's heart as determined by Jesus Christ.
+Wendell Sheriff Why play the 'but Democrat presidents did it and it was OK' card?
Did republicans protest when Obama used Executive Clemency? Damn right they did.
The point I continue to have to make, among others, is that no one is or should be above the law, especially those charged with upholding the law, they are the servants of the law, not it's masters.
Racial profiling is unconstitutional, full stop, no one argues that it isn't, no one with any knowledge of the law and the constitution anyway.
Stopping and detaining anyone who looks Latino because they may be illegal immigrants is racial profiling, pure and simple, there's no probable cause there, and without probable cause there is no valid legal reason to stop anyone, let alone detain and question them.
Yet this is what Arpaio instructed those under his command to do, detain and question anyone who looked Latino.
He was instructed by a court to immediately cease and desist, and was placed under injunction to prevent any more instances from those under his command.
Like it or not, a sheriff is legally liable for those he is in charge of, especially when they are the ones giving the orders to violate the constitutional rights of other citizens.
Arpaio committed criminal contempt when he blatantly ignored the court injunction, and was found guilty in a duly appointed court of law.
He was entitled to appeal that conviction, that's his constitutional right, but Trump broke with Executive Clemency tradition and convention when ordering Arpaio's conviction be vacated, convention states that presidents wait 5 years following conviction to allow the judicial appeals process to be carried out against the conviction or sentence, after that it's up to the president to vacate the conviction, or commute the sentence.
Stop making this about Left or Right, and start looking at it as right or wrong.
+Wendell Sheriff "It's not racial profiling if you're trying to enforce the law."
Um … yes, it is. Police power is not unlimited in the name of "enforcing the law." It can be "brutality" when trying to enforce the law, or "illegal search" when trying to enforce the law, etc.
More specifically, pulling over for identification and search any Hispanic person that catches the eye because some people who are here illegally are Hispanic, even though there are many, many Hispanics who are, in fact (believe it or not) legal citizens of the United States, is in fact racial profiling and illegal.
Arpaio was informed of this, he continued to do it. He was placed under an injunction by a federal judge, and continued to do it. He was tried for criminal contempt of that court order, and found guilty.
+steve taylor I fully understand your argument and in complete agreement.
Unfortunately it goes back to the statement I said before, it appears that some people in this wonderful Democratic nation ARE above the law.