Trump is America's 10th highest paid athlete.

Calculation in article here

He's steered clear of pardoning anyone who is personally connected to him so far. Cohen, Flynn, Manafort ... no pardons for any of them. I don't see why he would pardon Stone either.

SaltyNZ:

 

He's steered clear of pardoning anyone who is personally connected to him so far. Cohen, Flynn, Manafort ... no pardons for any of them. I don't see why he would pardon Stone either.

 

dclegg:

 

SaltyNZ:

 

He's steered clear of pardoning anyone who is personally connected to him so far. Cohen, Flynn, Manafort ... no pardons for any of them. I don't see why he would pardon Stone either.

 

The biggest motivation to pardon Stone is to ensure Stone doesn't squeal. He knows where all the metaphorical bodies are buried.

A secondary motivation is to send a big FU to his political rivals and detractors. He revels in criming in broad daylight, and this would be an escalation of that.

 

The problem with that logic is that under the same constitutional power, someone who accepts a presidential pardon loses their 5th Amendment right to silence. So right now, he can squeal if he wants to. If he is pardoned, he can be compelled to squeal whether he wants to or not. Chances of his being compelled to squeal under a Trump administration are ... slim ... but if the Democrats win the next election, they certainly will. And as I understand it, refusal to testify is treated as contempt, and there are essentially no limits on punishment for that: they put you in jail until you relent. Getting a pardon and then refusing to talk would turn his 40 month sentence into an indefinite sentence.

Interesting points, Salty. Sounds like a minefield - be damn careful where you place your foot!!

SaltyNZ:

 

The problem with that logic is that under the same constitutional power, someone who accepts a presidential pardon loses their 5th Amendment right to silence. So right now, he can squeal if he wants to. If he is pardoned, he can be compelled to squeal whether he wants to or not. Chances of his being compelled to squeal under a Trump administration are ... slim ... but if the Democrats win the next election, they certainly will. And as I understand it, refusal to testify is treated as contempt, and there are essentially no limits on punishment for that: they put you in jail until you relent. Getting a pardon and then refusing to talk would turn his 40 month sentence into an indefinite sentence.

 

Eh, the only thing we know for certain that goes through Trump's head is the wind. It could be as simple as he forgot their names on the day they put a stack of paper in front of him...

SaltyNZ:

 

Eh, the only thing we know for certain that goes through Trump's head is the wind. It could be as simple as he forgot their names on the day they put a stack of paper in front of him...

 

Nah. He loves criming. And he loves people seeing him criming and getting away with it. He also likes punishing anyone who tries to get in the way of his criming. And solemnly believes that now he is in the President's chair, this means nobody is actually authorized to stop him criming because, to paraphrase Judge Dredd, he is The Law.

All this has been amplified by his actions since his impeachment acquittal. 

TRUMP TRAINS PENCE TO ISSUE PARDONS

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—President Donald J. Trump made Vice-President Mike Pence watch him issue pardons for several hours to see how it's done, a White House source confirmed.

According to the source, Trump pardoned a number of disgraced political figures for the sole purpose of training Pence in the art of issuing pardons.

After signing pardon after pardon while Pence looked on intently, Trump commanded the Vice-President to sign a “practice pardon” to prove that he “wouldn’t mess anything up,” the source said.

Before trying his hand at issuing a pardon, Pence heaped praise on Trump for the pardoning demonstration he had just given.

“Mr. President, as in everything you do, your mastery of pardoning has been a wonder to behold,” he said. “I pray to God that if I am ever called upon to issue a pardon, I do it with one-tenth of the skill and grace you display.”

“Whatever," Trump reportedly snapped. "Just make sure you pardon me.”

BLOOMBERG TO SPEND TEN BILLION DOLLARS ON NEW PERSONALITY

LAS VEGAS (The Borowitz Report)—Shortly after the Democratic Presidential debate on Wednesday night, aides to Michael Bloomberg announced that he would spend ten billion dollars to buy an entirely new personality.

Acknowledging that some attributes of the former New York mayor’s new personality have yet to be ironed out, campaign advisers indicated that the eleven-figure outlay would be used to purchase warmth, empathy, and humanity.

Additionally, billions of Bloomberg’s war chest will be used to remove several unappetizing qualities from his current personality, including arrogance, touchiness, and a glaring inability to hide his contempt for others.

If all goes as planned, a thoroughly revamped and unrecognizable version of Bloomberg, called New Mike (TM), will be up and running in time for Super Tuesday.

But even as they announced the impending launch of Bloomberg’s new incarnation, campaign officials were careful to tamp down expectations. Said one aide, “In a perfect world, spending ten billion dollars on a new personality would make Mike a very appealing person, but we’ll settle for ‘not an ass-hole.” 

The Washington Post - The 5-Minute Fix

today

So, the big election news Friday is that Russia wants President Trump to win the 2020 presidential election again.

 

I don’t have much more to tell you because this was apparently supposed to still be secret. 

 

Last week, a senior intelligence official warned House lawmakers on the intelligence committee about Russia’s desire to see, and that means possibly help, Trump win.

 

The only reason we know about this is because Trump essentially demoted his intelligence chief for telling this information to a group of lawmakers which included Democrats, particularly House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-N.Y.), who prosecuted Trump’s impeachment. ...

 

This all drives home that Trump is still very sensitive about the appearance that his first successful election - and now maybe his second - could be influenced by someone other than him. ...

 

It’s specifically knowledge of Russia’s interference that Trump seems so on edge about. ...