Trump’s Pardons

Posted on 1 June 2018 by E.M.Smith

For anyone not already immersed in it, Trump has said he is going to pardon a few more folks. Looking at them, several were Comey collars.

They all look to have been prosecuted a lot, more than others, for minor things done; as a political persecution.

I don’t have a lot to say about it all, other than that it sure looks to me like Mr. Trump is looking for political injustices done, and rectifying them.

I’m just fine with that.

Undo all the crap you can, Sir!

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About E.M.Smith

A technical managerial sort interested in things from Stonehenge to computer science. My present "hot buttons' are the mythology of Climate Change and ancient metrology; but things change...
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26 Responses to Trump’s Pardons

  1. jim2 says:
    1 June 2018 at 2:30 am

    They weren’t prosecuted, they were persecuted! D’Souza was portrayed as voluntarily “confessing.” What they don’t tell you is they were holding over his head a second charge. Not my definition of voluntary!

  2. Serioso says:
    1 June 2018 at 2:56 am

    The question, I suppose, is whether Mr. Smith is capable of looking at any political matter without having both his eyes firmly shut. Anyone, absolutely anyone with open eyes, can see Trump’s game: “Be loyal to me, lie for me, and I will take care of you.” It’s the Mafia’s code.
    Mr. Smith raved about Hillary’s careless treatment of classified material, and wanted her locked up, even though her actions were careless and not deliberate. But when someone commits perjury with deliberation, Mr. Smith says ‘pardon em’. What does this say about Mr. Smith? I say he’s not an honest man when it comes to political matters.
    Of course, maybe he’s joking. But I don’t think Mr. Smith is capable of jokes.

  3. ossqss says:
    1 June 2018 at 3:54 am

    LOL, the question should be how long the therapy was after Hillary lost? Thanks for chuckle, 33,000 times. I am sure you used an anonymous server, right?

  4. Larry Ledwick says:
    1 June 2018 at 4:19 am

    even though her actions were careless and not deliberate.

    So how do you carelessly accidentally set up an illegal server according to the Federal guidelines and doing it in a manner specifically designed to side step Federal regulations. Anyone who thinks it was carelessness is a fool.

  5. gallopingcamel says:
    1 June 2018 at 4:57 am

    @Serioso,
    Mr. Smith lives in the real world while you are delusional.

    The Clintons operate a crime family. If you want to become a “Made” member of a crime family you have to “Make Your Bones”. This means committing a serious crime such as murder. This is why nobody has ever betrayed the Clintons and those that tried ended up dead.

    Suddenly the Clinton crime family is vulnerable because some of their friends in the “Deep State” are facing indictments. Yet there is a much larger problem given that the bulk of the emails relating to “Pay to Play” that Hillary deleted from her private server are now in the hands of the ACLJ. Watch Tom Fitton and his colleagues gradually release them over the next few weeks. Let us hope that some folks at the State Department will be indicted or forced to testify.

  6. gallopingcamel says:
    1 June 2018 at 5:05 am

    @Chiefio,
    The Fake Media is having a fake conniption over the Trump pardons even though Martha Stewart and Rod Blagojevich appear to be Democrats.

    Trump wrong foots media idiots over and over again. Why can’t they see that Trump is playing them like a violin?

  7. Sera says:
    1 June 2018 at 6:06 am

    For Smearioso:

  8. E.M.Smith says:
    1 June 2018 at 6:16 am

    Well, looks like Serioso has his panties in quite a bunch over this. A simple comment that I endorse Trump doing what he’s doing as it looks like undoing political prosecutions.

    From that, we get all sorts of invective and bile.

    Trump must have REALLY hit a nerve on The Left for so much to come from so little.

    Let’s step through it, shall we?

    (I note in passing that I’m now “Mr. Smith”. Gosh, so formal. Is that supposed to elevate your complaint? Give the sense of “through gritted teeth? So silly…)

    An assertion my eyes are shut on political matters. Now that’s a precious one. Were my eyes shut I’d not have noticed the pardons happened at all. As it stands I mostly just noted in passing that they looked to be undoing a too heavy prosecution. So how much graft and slush money have the Democrats slathered around? How much Soros Money is flying back and forth? $Millions. So some poor sot who’s a small fish gets a couple of friends to make donations for him, he gets nailed with a FELONY conviction? Yeah, that’s over the top prosecution; especially given the history of how prior such events were handled (especially for Democrats where even a slap on the wrist wasn’t done). So saying “treat everyone the same” means “my eyes are shut”? Well, only in the sense that I think justice ought to be blind as to which party you are supporting. In that case, clearly it was not…

    Now, the next assertion is that Trump is requiring “loyalty” and he’ll take care of you. Um, nope. Not even close.
    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/05/31/trump-to-give-full-pardon-to-dinesh-dsouza.html

    Despite his guilty plea, D’Souza and his allies have claimed for years that he was unfairly singled out for prosecution, and unfairly treated by the Obama administration.

    D’Souza in 2012 made a hit anti-Obama documentary called “2016: Obama’s America.” The film examined then-President Obama’s past and early influences that may have shaped his political ideology.

    D’Souza’s 2014 indictment was announced by then-U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was appointed by Obama and fired in 2017 by Trump.

    So make an anti-Obama film, get the book thrown at you… Not Trump having the Mafia Don behaviour…

    Now please explain to me how THIS one is to make sure the pardoned one is “loyal” to Trump:

    WASHINGTON — For more than 100 years, Jack Johnson’s legend as the first black heavyweight boxing champion has been undisputed, but his legacy had been tarnished by a racially tainted criminal conviction.

    His battles against white opponents, in the ring and outside of it, gave rise to “The Great White Hope” play and movie and he came to be lionized as a barrier breaker.

    But the criminal conviction from 1913 that most would find abhorrent today — for transporting a white woman across state lines — haunted Johnson well after his death in 1946 and motivated politicians and celebrities for years to advocate for a pardon, however symbolic.

    On Thursday in the Oval Office, Johnson posthumously found an unexpected champion: President Trump.

    Oh, how horrible for Trump to have pardoned him and cleared him of that… Is that what you are saying? Now to me it sure looks like a “righting a wrong” and a “removing an injustice”. Not seeing much “Mafia Don” in it. Guess you move in different circles…

    Then there’s Scooter Libby:

    https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/13/politics/donald-trump-pardons-scooter-libby/index.html

    Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump granted a pardon on Friday to Scooter Libby, the chief of staff to then-Vice President Dick Cheney who was convicted of perjury in 2007.
    The move to pardon Libby — who became embroiled in a special counsel investigation involving then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey — comes at a resonant moment. Trump himself is wrapped up in a special counsel investigation that he’s decried as a “witch hunt,” and is fuming about a book Comey has written detailing his interactions with Trump when he was serving as FBI director.
    In a statement, Trump conceded he has no personal relationship with Libby, whose case has been held up by conservatives as an example of a special counsel overstepping his bounds.
    “I don’t know Mr. Libby,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House. “But for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly. Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life.”

    The guy worked for Dick Cheney, not Trump, and is an old guy going out to pasture, not exactly a person of import to Trump. Scooter is 2 years into Medicare… BUT it is an example of the use of the Special Council as a weapon of entrapment. Make any mistake in testimony and not be connected to the Democrats, go to prison? Sure looks like the modis operandi. So he’s letting an old guy out after a decade to go sit on the porch and be retired. Oh The Horrors! /sarc;

    Similarly Sheriff Joe. He’s 85 for Crissakes. Likely ought to be in an old folks home, not prison. Got in a dust up with a liberal judge and ends up whacked. Sorry, but he’s an honorable man with a long history of service and what he was hit with was way out of proportion for a “contempt” issue over how to run his office. Again the pattern of taking over zealous prosecution and dialing it back. (Compare Hilary and the serial felonies she’s racked up all with a Free Pass).

    Then what harm comes from a pardon of Martha Stewart? A liberal hardly known for being out there being a bag man for Trump…

    Then, finally, Serioso resorts to the only tool in his belt that he’s really comfortable with: Direct personal insults. Despite dozens of instructions not to do that. Despite repeated pleas to be nice. Just not in his wheelhouse…

    I say he’s not an honest man when it comes to political matters.
    Of course, maybe he’s joking. But I don’t think Mr. Smith is capable of jokes.

    So for honestly stating my opinion you jump to “not honest”. Such non-sequitur is amazing.

    Then somehow you end up in Vaudeville skills? Really? Well, for what it is worth, I very much am capable of making jokes. I just don’t find the utility in them very useful nor does a web posting lend itself to them. (Timing, cadence, inflection, ‘look in the eyes’, and more “all missing” – it just isn’t a very good medium for jokes – nor is twitter, BTW)

    So no, not joking here. Trump is, in my HONEST OPINION, looking for instances of politically motivated prosecution to excess, and social injustice, and righting them. ( I’d be willing to question if these particular choices were the best ones, or if some others ought to be done too, but it’s very clear he’s not getting any “quid pro quo” out of these. A dead guy, two old “were somebody once”, a tarnished maven who’s already done her time, and maybe an over charged ex-governor who’s future career path now most likely runs through “would you like fries with that”… Hardly the stuff of political payolla generation… )

    So, one more time: LOSE THE PERSONAL INSULTS. Then, if possible, make whatever case you can from reason and logic and facts. You know the drill, having been through it before; IF you can’t stop being insulting, you go to moderation and I start removing the insults from your comments before I let them through. I’d also, seriously, suggest you get some counseling. It would seem that you either have a learning disability (given failure to learn over years) or more likely some kind of anger management / impulse control issues. “Just can’t help yourself” stuff. Whatever it is, when it leaks out it isn’t pretty, nor effective. Honestly, you need help.

  9. Larry Ledwick says:
    1 June 2018 at 6:46 am

    I note in passing:
    Lead prosecutor for Martha Stewart = James B. Comey
    Libby = Deputy Attorney General James Comey
    D’Souza’s 2014 indictment was announced by then-U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was appointed by Obama and fired in 2017 by Trump.

    Looks to me that Trump is undoing the political persecution meted out by the key players in his pre-election spying on his campaign. It may be building a case for a persistent long term pattern of politically motivated abuse of government power.

    When it comes time to drop the hammer on the swamp he will have a laundry list of improper prosecutions he has righted that were the result of the actions of the same folks accused of abusing power under color of law against him.

    Martha democrat and a woman will please the working woman demographic.
    Libby was an icon to the old school establishment Republicans
    D’Souza an icon to the current generation of new conservatives who elected trump.
    Jack Johnson checks the box for the black community.
    I would not be surprised if we will also see someone who has strong links to the labor unions

    Kim Kardashian was meeting with President Trump to lobby for the pardon of 63 year old black woman Alice Marie Johnson, and prison reform.

    I suspect when he gets done with his targeted pardons, he will have someone to please every major constituency in the MAGA coalition and bullet point references that cover all the major political bases..

  10. E.M.Smith says:
    1 June 2018 at 8:11 am

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Blagojevich

    Yeah, Democrat. So , per Serioso, Trump is saying to a disgraced Democrat to “be loyal”? And just what does Blago have to offer? Crickets…

    A Democrat, Blagojevich was a state representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago
    […]
    On May 31, 2018, President Donald Trump, soon after having pardoned commentator Dinesh D’Souza, told reporters that he was considering commuting Blagojevich’s sentence (without pardoning him), as well as pardoning Martha Stewart. Trump called Blagojevich’s 18-year sentence “unfair”, (actually it was a 14-year-sentence, and the transcript was amended to indicate the correct sentence) ]saying that Blagojevich’s statements about enriching himself were “stupid”, but also the sort of thing “that many other politicians say”.

    Yeah, 14 years for “stupid”. As I recall it, Blago was thinking about who to appoint to Obama’s old seat. The Big O had some “suggestions” and Blago said he wasn’t giving the seat away for nothing and that got turned into an implied “Give me cash” when it could just as easily have meant “How are you going to give me some strokes? Maybe a new Federal Grant for highways?” (as a hypothetical). The kind of “What will you give me for my district?” thing politicians say all the time. It’s context that makes it or breaks it (several other charges were tossed out).

    One of the accusations was an alleged attempt to sell the appointment to the United States Senate seat vacated by the resignation of Barack Obama. Blagojevich was taped by the FBI saying “I’ve got this thing, and it’s fucking golden. I’m just not giving it up for fucking nothing.”

    Now does that unambiguously say “pay to play”, or could it be “O wants to choose who gets this seat but I want the strokes from choosing who gets it.”? Could go either way, but in the absence of any money changing hands, it mostly looks like Big O using the FBI to take down someone who O didn’t like. (Wait, that sounds familiar somehow… ;-)

    So just what would Trump stand to gain from a hard core Chicago Democrat being set free (NOT PARDONED) a bit early? Only thing I can see is just what he said. The sentence is too steep for being stupid and saying something said 100 times a day in politicians offices… “Making a deal”… Like “I’ll give you an Army Base if you give me an ethanol in gasoline mandate… ”

    (Personal Opinion: I really don’t care about Blago. He’s regular Chicago machine. Leave him in prison, or not, not my concern. It does look like he mostly was prosecuted for “excessive bluntness and failure to Play Ball with O”, and was harshly crushed for it. If Trump commutes his sentence, he’s still had 5 or 6 years in prison. Fair enough for just being a bog standard Chicago politician, I’d say.)

  11. Simon Derricutt says:
    1 June 2018 at 11:58 am

    Interesting point. Serioso says
    “Mr. Smith raved about Hillary’s careless treatment of classified material, and wanted her locked up, even though her actions were careless and not deliberate.”
    I suppose the crushing of the mobile phones was accidental, too, and the bit-bleaching of the relevant disks was a mere slip of the finger. Using a private email sever for government business could be viewed as careless, since AFAIK it’s specifically disallowed. Therefore Clinton was incompetent, if you want to read it that way. The alternative is that it was done to keep those emails from being seen by the auditors, which is illegal. Take your choice between deliberately illegal or simply incompetent, but either way allowing the USA’s enemies to know what the USA was going to do before they did it because the server wasn’t secure.

    I haven’t a dog in this fight since I’m in Europe. On the other hand I would be happy if we had a Trump here who could see where the current policies are leading. We had something near that in Nigel Farage, but he’s decided he’s done his bit and retired to the sidelines rather than try for the top job. I can’t blame him for this, since the press were against him too, and the UKIP supporters tended to be somewhat extreme in their views.

    It seems to me that the general populace are pissed-off at the way things are going. They are voting (when allowed to) for change. See Italy at the moment. Catalonia, though, are not allowed to vote, and the French won’t be allowed a referendum about Frexit because it’s fairly certain they’d vote out. In 2008 Obama promised that change, and got in on the strength of that promise. No real change by 2012 but he got in on the promise that change would come. It looks to me that nothing really changed, and the corruption seems to have been less hidden but ignored by the media because they were so pleased at having a Black president. In 2016 Trump promised change, too, but he’s actually delivering it. He must be the first politician in history to be castigated for keeping his promises.

    I’m expecting some interesting revelations around September/October as regards corruption during the Obama years. Maybe more about Uranium One, weaponising of the IRS against people (often GOP) who dissented on government policies, misuse of the FBI and CIA for political purposes, pay for play at the State department, and stuff like that. If people still vote to go back to the old ways after that, there’s not a lot of hope, but I expect a lot will have their eyes opened as to just how corrupt it was. They’ll also have noticed that they really are better off with Trump. I think they’ll vote for more of the same, even if they don’t like Trump personally and don’t support all his ideas. He’s getting the job done.

    I find it interesting that after over a year of Mueller’s investigations, he hasn’t turned up any evidence of collusion with the Russians. That’s not to say that the Russians didn’t meddle, since they meddle with all countries they can, but instead that Trump didn’t ask for it or work with them. If you investigate anybody in depth, you’ll be able to find a way in which they broke the law. I doubt if anybody has actually read all the laws that currently exist, and I’m sure we all break some law every day that we’re not aware of. Ignorance of the law is after all no excuse. I suppose you can excuse Hillary Clinton’s email server by saying that, except that in getting top security clearance you’re going to have the relevant laws explained to you so you can’t plead ignorance, only forgetfulness. Like the submariner who took pictures to show his kids, and went to jail for it….

  12. A C Osborn says:
    1 June 2018 at 12:13 pm

    Serioso, like many others I have seen on forums who follow the “Climate Change” is disastrous meme and President Trump is stupid, evil and crooked.
    They do not live in the real world and there are millions like it.
    They just consume what the YMSM tell them is reality and believe every word without any critical thinking whatsoever.
    Some of the worst cases are almost suicidal with fear and humanity loathing because we are destroying Gaia.
    I feel really sad for them, to be so bitter & tormented all the time.

  13. jim2 says:
    1 June 2018 at 1:14 pm

    @Serioso says: 1 June 2018 at 2:56 am
    “Hillary’s careless treatment of classified material”

    Well, it’s a damn good thing this careless bitch wasn’t elected President then, isn’t it?

  14. H.R. says:
    1 June 2018 at 2:00 pm

    @Seriososo: I’m the comic relief around here. Your posts provide lots of laughs, but you need to find your own nightclub.

    Wait up… I reread your comment and I counted 9 sentences with 9 laugh lines. You win! I’m handing the mic over to you.

    Ladies and gentlemen!

    Let me introduce our new Chiefio’s Comedy Corner headliner… our very own… SERIOSOSO!

  15. catweazle666 says:
    1 June 2018 at 2:05 pm

    The question, I suppose, is whether anyone anywhere gives a flying ferret’s foreskin what Serioso thinks on any subject whatsoever.

    Of course, the best thing to do with trolls is not to feed than, there’s nothing irritates a troll more than being ignored.

  16. p.g.sharrow says:
    1 June 2018 at 3:38 pm

    @cat…; I like your troll picture :-) …pg

  17. mpcraig says:
    1 June 2018 at 4:24 pm

    One thing about Trump, love him or hate him, is the exposure of the festering cesspool that is American federal politics. And the complicity of the media is equally disturbing.

    Even if you are died in the wool life long democrat or left winger of any type, I can’t see how you think what is going on in Washington DC is good for you.

    And it’s heading that way now in Canada. Although I don’t think it’ll make it given the level of incompetence. Our government actually let a pipeline deadline pass by a company eager to get shovels in the ground and now the government is going to build it. [F-bomb deleted. That’s why this went to trash for so long and I just found it. -E.M.Smith] unreal.

  18. Larry Ledwick says:
    2 June 2018 at 2:07 am

    Looks like some former coworkers of Comey are starting to open up about things and talk to investigators.

    http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/378730-fbi-supervisor-warned-comey-in-2014-that-warrantless-surveillance

  20. Larry Ledwick says:
    3 June 2018 at 5:20 pm

    Interesting chart on presidential approval on day 500 by the majority party.

    It appears in this axios article which obviously is slanted in a way that shows the writer is puzzled about why this is true (or thinks it is because the pied piper has mesmerized his minions) not sure which.

    https://www.axios.com/trumps-500-day-coup-of-the-gop-conservatism-5f1f129d-22c3-4f53-b9f1-d957eb1ef05c.html

    To me it just reinforces the idea that the Progressive insanity has finally outed itself for what it is and people are beginning to accept that even though they might not like President Trump and his methods, they like what he is accomplishing provided they are not hard core Progressive Leftists.

    I’ve seen quite a bit of chatter on twitter that various minorities are finally feeling comfortable coming out as supporting Trump and turning their back on the oppressive victimization of whole demographics of voters to keep them dependent on big government. If President Trump’s administration can maintain the record low unemployment rate for blacks and hispanics for a significant period that should seal the deal as those folks will start to vote pocket book issues rather than talking point issues.

  21. philjourdan says:
    6 June 2018 at 12:34 pm

    @Simon Derricott

    Take your choice between deliberately illegal or simply incompetent, but either way allowing the USA’s enemies to know what the USA was going to do before they did it because the server wasn’t secure.

    Here’s the problem with that. The law, as written, does not require intent. So Serioso is arguing that not only is Hillary incompetent, but a felon. Comey clearly said she was guilty (but that was just his opinion), and it was again his “opinion” that no prosecutor would take the case. Yet they did take the case of Bryan Nishimura – another poor soul who WAS convicted of breaking the exact same law and without intent.

    So all those who think that Serioso is supporting Hillary do not realize he is saying she is stupid and a criminal. Is it any wonder Hillary lost? With friends like that, she needs no enemies.

  22. Simon Derricutt says:
    6 June 2018 at 1:45 pm

    Phil – I thought I’d covered the point that what HRC did was illegal and subject to criminal prosecution in the last paragraph, and that others went to jail for breaking the rules on official secrets even when it was obviously innocently done and there appears to have been no material damage done. One law for the rich and powerful, another for the rest.

    Serioso thinks he’s supporting HRC. He has good intentions. Still, they say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. He meant well, bless his heart…. I presented him with the two obvious scenarios where both were illegal but one was deliberately so. Maybe it made him consider his position, or maybe he had a TL:DR moment.

    It remains that HRC’s server was probably an open book to the USA’s enemies (and maybe some friends too) so they knew the USA’s options and negotiation position before sitting at the table. That’s bound to have been damaging. Since Comey seems to have decided it was pardonable, it seems to me he’s also culpable, though of course I’m not competent in understanding the law (there’s too much of it and the language is obscure).

    What’s worrying is that HRC came pretty close to winning.

  23. philjourdan says:
    6 June 2018 at 3:47 pm

    @Simon – you did. I was just turning it directly back on Serioso showing his “support” was worse than any criticism.

    As far as Hillary winning, Bill did. And Whitewater, Commodities Futures, and rape were in his past. Like the Mafia, once you are a “made man” (person), the rules no longer apply. At least they have not before. We can only hope that Trump’s legacy will be that they apply in the future.

  24. E.M.Smith says:
    6 June 2018 at 5:43 pm

    I note with amusement that anti-Soros banners are showing up in the EU elections (Hungary and Italy at least). He’s been “outed” as the Troll behind the Troubles and his brand is strongly in the decline. One can only hope it accelerates exponentially…

    He’s moving his base of operations from Hungary to Germany. (Seeing as much of the Mediterranean arc is not keen on his immigration tongue down their throats… and the UK is doing a Brexit). It’s looking like the entire Eastern European arc is also “less than thrilled” with Poland and Czech Republic clearly not happy. Then Spain has elected a new PM who looks to be more Spain centered.

    It looks to me like he’s basically got a choice of France or Germany in the EU. I wonder how long that will last…

  25. H.R. says:
    6 June 2018 at 6:36 pm

    I’m surprised Soros hasn’t just retired to his own Evil Bastard Island – you know, one of those island fortresses like they have in a Bond film – where he can plot to take over the world without him and his white Persian cat being disturbed, and he can toss the occasional underling who fails into the shark-filled moat.

    OTOH, it isn’t as much fun as speeding through the streets of world capitals in a blacked out armored limousine with a five-car escort motorcade just to run out for an ice cream cone, so there’s that.

  26. E.M.Smith says:
    7 June 2018 at 1:33 am

    @H.R.:

    Don’t give him any ideas! ;-)

    Remember that what get’s him excited is control of others. He can’t get that isolated on an island somewhere…

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