{"id":2003586,"date":"2023-08-17T12:13:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T16:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-trump-wins-white-house-he-wont-be-able-to-pardon-himself-in-georgia-and-neither-can-the-governor\/"},"modified":"2023-08-17T12:31:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T16:31:01","slug":"if-trump-wins-white-house-he-wont-be-able-to-pardon-himself-in-georgia-and-neither-can-the-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-trump-wins-white-house-he-wont-be-able-to-pardon-himself-in-georgia-and-neither-can-the-governor\/","title":{"rendered":"If Trump wins, he can&#8217;t pardon himself in Georgia, nor can the Governor."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fif-trump-wins-white-house-he-wont-be-able-to-pardon-himself-in-georgia-and-neither-can-the-governor%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2003586&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>If Trump \u200bWins White House, He\u200c Won&#8217;t Be Able to Pardon Himself\u200d in Georgia &#8211; And Neither Can the Governor<\/h2>\n<p>If former president and current 2024\u2062 GOP front-runner Donald Trump\u2064 retakes the White\u2064 House, don\u2019t \u2063expect him \u2014 or \u2063any other Republican, for that matter \u2014 to wave away \u2063any convictions he might incur in the state of Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday,\u2064 Trump\u200b and 18 others were indicted by\u2062 Fulton County District Attorney <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-georgia-prosecutor-fani-willis-proposes-date-trump-arraignment-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fani Willis<\/a> over the White House\u2019s challenge \u2063of the 2020 presidential result in Georgia, which President\u200d Joe Biden barely carried.<\/p>\n<p>The former president faces <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/f\/?id=00000189-f730-dc32-ab89-f7fc1f760000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">13 \u2063criminal charges<\/a>, including one count \u2063of violating the state\u2019s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations\u2064 statute, stemming from what prosecutors claim were <a title=\"How The Left-Wing Media Promoted A Baseless COVID Conspiracy Theory\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-left-wing-media-promoted-a-baseless-covid-conspiracy-theory\/\">false statements made<\/a> during the electoral challenge.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Another day, another charge<\/strong>, Trump supporters might be inclined\u2062 to think.<\/p>\n<p>However, ABC \u2063News legal contributor Dan \u2063Abrams warned \u2063that the \u2064Georgia charges might be \u201cmore dangerous\u201d than the\u2064 federal charges he\u2019s already facing, given \u200cthat presidents can\u2019t offer pardons on state charges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s effectively pardon-proof, right? In the sense that with\u200c a federal case,\u200d if he wins the election, he \u200bcan kind of make it go away,\u201d Abrams\u2062 said on \u201cGood Morning America\u201d Tuesday.\u00a0\u201cThis case, he can\u2019t do that with.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-embed\"><\/div>\n<p>Nor, in fact, can a pro-Trump governor in Georgia pardon him, either.<\/p>\n<p>Not that there\u2019s one\u2063 in place at the moment, mind you; while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-calls-resignation-georgia-gov-brian-kemp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gov. Brian Kemp<\/a> \u2064 is a Republican, he also broke ranks with Trump over the president\u2019s challenge of the 2020 results\u200b and\u2064 easily survived a primary challenge in 2022\u2062 from \u2062Trump-backed\u200c David Perdue.<\/p>\n<p>However, even if Kemp had a change of heart and decided the charges were politically\u2063 motivated\u200b piffle, there still wouldn\u2019t be anything he could do.<\/p>\n<p>According to Georgia law, \u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/vivek-ramaswamy-open-pardoning-hunter-biden-elected-president\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pardons<\/a> \u200dare only offered as an \u201corder of official forgiveness\u201d <em>after<\/em> an individual has\u200c served his or her sentence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou must have completed all sentence(s) at least five (5)\u200d years prior to\u2064 applying,\u201d according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/pap.georgia.gov\/parole-consideration\/pardons-restoration-rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">State \u2062Board of Pardons and Paroles<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The pardon \u201cdoes not expunge, remove or erase the crime from your \u200crecord,\u201d the board says. \u201cIt may serve as a means for a petitioner to advance in employment or education.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OK, \u2064then \u2014 so what about changing the\u200c pardon laws in the state? That would \u200cseem to be\u2064 a reasonable\u200d course of action, given the\u2062 politically\u2064 charged nature \u200dof \u2062the indictment as\u2062 well\u200c as the all-too-perfect timing, right during the 2024 election season.<\/p>\n<p>Alas,\u2063 that too\u2063 isn\u2019t easy, given \u200bthat it\u2019s not\u200d just a matter of passing a\u2062 law\u200d through the legislature\u2062 and getting Kemp \u200dto sign it.<\/p>\n<p>The pardon \u200dprovision \u2062is baked into Georgia\u2019s\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/sos.ga.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-02\/state_constitution.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constitution<\/a>, which is significantly more difficult to change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmending the state constitution to change clemency powers would require a\u200d 2\/3 vote of both the State House and Senate and ratification by a majority of\u200b voters in the state\u2019s next general election,\u201d Kaleb McMichen, \u200ba spokesman for Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, told <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/news-and-politics\/2023\/08\/georgia-indictment-trump-pardon.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Slate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs you may be aware, neither political\u2062 party holds a \u200bsupermajority of either \u2062the State House or Senate making \u2062the odds of a\u200b controversial amendment meeting the threshold required by the Constitution \u200bhighly improbable,\u201d McMichen said.<\/p>\n<p>He added there were \u201cno discussions of any such legislative action\u201d to change the pardon provision at present.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t\u200d necessarily make Trump entirely helpless, however.<\/p>\n<p>One possibility, floated by radio host and Fox News personality <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/levin-takes-counterview-trump-power-potus-pardon-state-charges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mark Levin<\/a>, is that Trump could invoke the Constitution\u2019s Supremacy Clause to pardon himself and \u200bother defendants were\u200b he \u200delected president.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/article-6\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article VI<\/a> \u201cestablishes \u2062that the federal constitution, and federal law generally,\u2062 take precedence over state\u2063 laws, and even state constitutions,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/supremacy_clause\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cornell Law School\u2019s \u2063Legal Information Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe DOJ has taken the position under both parties that you cannot indict a sitting president because it would\u200b cripple the\u2064 executive branch and make his ability to\u200b defend himself effectively impossible,\u201d Levin \u200dwrote Tuesday on \u2064X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven the DOJ\u2019s position, and the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution, I would argue strongly that the idea that a president cannot\u2063 be indicted at the federal level because it\u2064 would cripple the executive branch, but can\u200c be indicted by \u2062local DAs, would have exactly the same effect as a federal indictment, except there are thousands of local and state prosecutors making\u2063 the crippling\u200b of a president even more likely.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">President Trump can, in fact, pardon \u2063himself from the GA charges if \u2064he is elected president.<\/p>\n<p>1. The Constitution\u2019s\u2063 silent about whether a president can be indicted.<br \/>\n2. The DOJ has taken the position under both parties that you cannot indict a sitting president because it would\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mark R. \u2063Levin (@marklevinshow) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/marklevinshow\/status\/1691561003765367053?\">August 15, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The other option is to make\u2064 like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/corruption-schemer-adam-schiff-played-dirty-tricks-mark-meadows-texts-others-saw\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mark Meadows<\/a> \u2014 Trump\u2019s\u200c former\u200b chief \u2062of staff, now his co-defendant \u2014 and ask for the case to be moved\u200b to \u2063federal court.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.gand.319225\/gov.uscourts.gand.319225.1.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">motion<\/a> filed Tuesday, Meadows\u2019 counsel argued \u200bthat\u200b since the alleged offenses happened while he was chief of staff in Washington, \u2063D.C., the case doesn\u2019t belong in \u200ba state court in Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe <a title=\"Ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows seeks to transfer Fulton County case to federal court.\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-white-house-chief-of-staff-white-mark-meadows-files-to-move-fulton-county-case-to-federal-court\/\">conduct giving rise<\/a> to the charges in the indictment all\u200d occurred during \u200bhis tenure and as part of his service as Chief \u2064of Staff,\u201d the motion read.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn these circumstances, federal law provides for prompt\u200b removal \u2064of a \u2018criminal prosecution \u2026 commenced in a State court \u2026 against or directed\u2062 to\u2019 a federal official, \u2018in an official or individual capacity, \u2062for \u200cor relating to any act under color of [his] office,&#8217;\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDefendant Meadows has defenses to the charges in this Georgia indictment that arise\u2062 under\u2064 federal law,\u200b including a federal immunity defense under the Supremacy Clause of the Federal Constitution,\u201d the motion\u200b said.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Davis \u2014 founder\u2062 and president of the Article III Project, a conservative \u200djudicial group \u2014 \u2062argued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/steve-bannon-fox-news-making-sure-trump-not-president\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trump<\/a> could follow \u200cthe same \u2064avenue:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">President Trump should also remove the case to \u200bfederal case.<\/p>\n<p>And move to dismiss.<\/p>\n<p>Presidential immunity.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2qeTjnCf3y\">https:\/\/t.co\/2qeTjnCf3y<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mike Davis (@mrddmia) \u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mrddmia\/status\/1691570838305436027?\">August 15, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That said, while it\u2019s\u2063 easy enough to dismiss the latest round of charges as yet\u2064 another attempt to weaponize law\u2063 enforcement against the political opposition,\u200c the Georgia\u200b case presents new and dangerous challenges for Trump and those around him.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the federal charges brought by the special counsel, the Georgia counts aren\u2019t easily reversed by\u2062 the \u200cwill of the American voters \u2014 and that\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n<p>Now \u2062that this rubicon has been crossed, expect\u200b even more banana republic-like shenanigans to follow in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/lawyer-points-big-problem-georgia-sheriff-wanting-trumps-mugshot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fani \u200dWillis\u2019<\/a> wake.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-wins-white-house-wont-able-pardon-georgia-neither-can-governor\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">If\u2064 Trump Wins White House, He Won&#8217;t Be Able \u2062to Pardon \u2063Himself in Georgia &#8211; And Neither Can the Governor<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If Donald Trump becomes president again in 2024, he won&#8217;t ignore any convictions he faces in Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis indicted Trump and 18 others on Monday, and this won&#8217;t be overlooked by him or any other Republican.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":663,"featured_media":2003587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"If Trump wins, he can&#8217;t pardon himself in Georgia, nor can the Governor.","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2003586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"If Trump wins, he can&#8217;t pardon himself in Georgia, nor can the Governor.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/663"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2003586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2003586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2003586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2003586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}