Speaking of non-citizen pardons, Firtash’s must be coming in a subsequent batch — unless Barr’s replacement can kill that case (don’t recall where that left off, but Barr wasn’t doing that exit-interview virtue press for nothing. _Some_ kind of wet-work awaits that’s too tawdry for his taste +/- too close to him and his calendar of activities). If Firtash’s case is dispatched with (by whatever means), then folks like Lev might not remember or speak so much, owing to, say, pressing extra-judicial constraints — thus sparing a handful of toxic pardons.

Just entertaining who they could/could not leave out of pardon palooza, and how to batch them, is a bit of a bezoar. Absent (or even with) adequate DOJ-bloodbathing of cases, Rudy’s going to have to be clustered with/near the “loyal innocents”, like the spawn, to mask his associations (unless fits of tweet overtake behind-the-scenes planning, always a possibility). He might even do an “All My Lawyers” or similar episode which includes people who don’t even need pardons! I bet they’ll be pissed.

If we really get 2k-4k stimulus checks, all bets are off and it’s largesse time for everyone, while we sip our hot cocoa in appreciation to dear leader. It’s telling of Trump’s consciousness of his own criminal vulnerability that he wants to appear universally generous, that he (feels he) needs that PR move within which to sink stuff like the pardons closer to his tell-tale heart.

Of course Esformes gets a pardon. What’s wrong with stealing from the government?

A chink in the dam becomes first a dribble, then a stream and finally catastrophic failure.

For the uninitiated, Medicare has lots of restrictions on what you can and can’t do to acquire patients, and a serious no-no is providing compensation to physicians to encourage patients to use a service. If there is no value add by the physician, there can be no incentive paid.

But rules are just for the little people.

As much as these four deserve it, that’s not going to happen. We generally have a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the host nations that would detail how this works. It is not unusual for servicemembers to face local justice (i.e. for drug busts in particular, most of the world is rather strict on those charges) when the SOFA permits it. I do not know what SOFA was in effect in Iraq at the time of Nisour Square and whether Blackwater was covered (I suspect it was not).

I’d say the whole deal is up to the new AG. If he appoints a prosecutor or farms it out to SDNY, there’s enough already.

Trump’s already in deep as “Ind 1” at SDNY, that’s campaign fraud and perjury with his own attorney as a witness against him.

Next, you have Mueller and 10 potential counts of obstruction; the pardons strengthen the case for obstruction, not weaken it. There’s more than criminal reasons to pursue this, there are national security reasons regarding Russian collusion. I’d bet there’s plenty criminality there too. Russia, perhaps Turkey. And don’t forget Ukraine.

Then we have misuse of campaign and 2017 inaugural cash, tax, insurance and financial fraud and whatever business corruption.

So far as the Blackwater murderers, I have no idea whether the SOFA agreement would protect these guys or could be waived. The pardon certainly opens it up. Maybe an extradition will go the USSC, who knows?

Bottomline for all this, if we have an aggressive AG these guys aren’t safe from jail. And don’t think about changing some civil rules trying to reform Presidential Pardons (as been yacked by the talking heads)- if an AG won’t go after a president that used pardons to protect himself criminally, there is not much use of passing a reform law that would only be laughed at by a corrupt president.

I know that the Trumpers will go nuts if Trump is indicted. And it’s quite likely that any trial would end in a hung jury. But there are principles and the rule of law. These crimes are just too obvious to skate.

Trump pardons prior to yesterday’s additions:

– Eddie Gallagher (War Cimes)
– Michael Flynn: Convicted of lying to FBI to obstruct investigation into Trump/Russia collusion
– Roger Stone: sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for obstruction, false statements, witness tampering
– Joe Arpaio: former Sherriff, guilty of criminal contempt of court.
– Dwight and Steven Hammond, Oregon ranchers convicted of arson for burning more than 100 acres of federal land
– Rod Blagojevich, fmr governor of Illinois convicted of trying to shake down a children’s hospital and sell Obama’s Senate seat. Trump commuted Blagojevich’s sentence on February 18, freeing him from prison six years early.
– Scooter Libby, convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice.
– Bernard Kerik, fmr NY City police commissioner under Rudy Giuliani, pleaded guilty in 2009 to eight felonies, including tax fraud and lying to White House officials.
– Michael Milken, billionare, charged with insider trading and convicted of securities fraud in 1990.
– Paul Pogue, owner construction company, convicted of tax fraud. underpaid taxes by $500,000
– David Safavian, convicted of obstruction of justice and making false statements in 2008 in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.
– Pat Nolan, fmr CA – R legislator, convicted in political corruption
– Dinesh D’Souza, convicted of making illegal campaign contributions & funneling $20,000 through straw donors to evade campaign finance limits.
– Conrad Black, fmr media mogul convicted of obstruction of justice and fraud
– Angela Stanton, convicted on federal conspiracy charges for her role in a car theft ring in 2004.
– Eddie DeBartolo Jr., fmr owner of 49ers, convicted of failing to report a $400,000 bribe the governor of Louisiana solicited from him.
– Michael Behenna, fmr Army Lt. convicted for murder of Ali Mansur, an Iraqi prisoner.
– Mathew Golsteyn, fmr Maj. convicted for murder. he acknowledged having killed an Afghan man in 2010.
– Clint Lorance, fmr Lt., convicted of second-degree murder after ordering troops to fire on unarmed Afghan civilians in 2012.
~ source: Mother Jones

“Donald Trump has reportedly told aides he will pardon them for any laws they might break to build a wall along the US-Mexico border as he rushes to get hundreds of miles of fencing erected before the 2020 election. ~The Guardian

Trump said he will pardon them for any laws broken in the process, allegedly telling aides: “Don’t worry, I’ll pardon you.”

Some of them are pardons in return for favors received, or protection for Trmp because they know too much about what he’s done.

Repubs going crazy is a given.
Which leaves standing as the obstacle. Which could, in theory, be oversome by becoming a signatory.

I would have to say that the Republicans have gone crazy already with their utter abdication toTrump and his criminality.
Why would anyone care now if they “go crazy” over something Biden does?
It seems to me that after Trump Biden has a pass on almost anything his conscience would allow.

I understand we’re not a signatory to the Rome Act, but I don’t believe we need to sign on to the Act in order for the ICC to gain jurisdiction–as a non-signatory, the jurisdiction of the ICC is predicated upon a unanimous vote of the UNSC, so we can always veto it. As for “concerns” our citizens may not get a fair trial, I would observe that these guys were already tried and convicted, so I think we can check off that box. I expect there is a laundry list of ramifications that probably include some good reasons not to do it, but I am curious whether it’s an “option.”

Yes, they are Unitary ‘pleasures’, and they are perverse.

Can you imagine them, coolly leafing through headshots, selecting who to kill? Because that’s exactly what they did. And the draft selection committee? Wholly premeditated. (Though I do think there must have been some instrumentality or secondary considerations with some of their picks, besides the cruelty-arousal factor — like with the variety-pack pardons of abusers, peppered in with the ones already chosen by 45’s direct associations.)

And then they kill them in sketchy ways guaranteed to cause suffering over a PR look? Sick fucks. That sounds like an enhancement to me.