As he leaves office, Trump pardons former top strategist Bannon

[Eric Loh]

7 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Like Trump, they could care less about anyone other than themselves, or those who help them make money and get power.  Horrible people.

I doubt he wrote the 'very generous letter' to Joe Biden. 

[Tie Dye Samurai]

On 1/19/2021 at 11:23 PM, webfact said:

As he leaves office, Trump pardons former top strategist Bannon

By Steve Holland

 

FILE PHOTO: Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon exits the Manhattan Federal Court, following his arraignment hearing for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. August 20, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has granted clemency to former White House aide Steve Bannon as part of a wave of pardons and commutations he will issue during his final hours in office, a senior administration official said.

 

Trump was not expected to pardon himself, members of his family or lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who was at the forefront of unsuccessful efforts to get the results of the 2020 presidential election overturned, according to sources.

 

Trump leaves office on Wednesday, when Joe Biden is sworn in as the nation's next president.

 

Trump also pardoned rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black who were prosecuted on federal weapons offenses, as well as former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was serving a 28-year prison term on corruption charges, a senior administration official said.

 

Bannon, who was a key adviser in Trump's 2016 presidential run, was charged last year with swindling Trump supporters over an effort to raise private funds to build the president's wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He has pleaded not guilty.

 

White House officials had advised Trump against pardoning Bannon. The two men have lately rekindled their relationship as Trump sought support for his unproven claims of voter fraud, an official familiar with the situation said.

 

Bannon, 67, is the latest prominent political ally to receive clemency from Trump, who has often used the powers of the executive branch to reward loyalists and punish his enemies.

 

Trump previously pardoned former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn for lying to the FBI about his conversation with the former Russian ambassador, and he commuted the prison term for Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress during its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

 

Bannon can still be charged in state court in New York, where a pardon would not help him, said Daniel R. Alonso, a former prosecutor now at the Buckley law firm. Fraud prosecutions are frequently brought by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Alonso said.

 

Lil Wayne, 38, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., pleaded guilty in federal court in December to illegally possessing a firearm and faced up to 10 years in prison. He has expressed support for Trump's criminal justice reform efforts.

 

Kodak Black, 23, who was born Bill Kahan Kapri, is in federal prison for making a false statement in order to buy a firearm.

 

(Reporting by Steve Holland. Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Jan Wolfe. Writing by James Oliphant.; Editing by Mary Milliken and Lincoln Feast.)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-20

 

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Totally confident this guy will step in it again and The Self Proclaimed Stable Genius will be all out of pardons to rescue him....

[Rimmer]

A troll post has been removed

[mtls2005]

Not sure if this is bad news or good news for bannon's three co-defendants? They are Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage, 38, Andrew Badolato, 56, and Timothy Shea, 49.

 

I guess they could blame bannon, and make it seem (lie) that bannon hoodwinked them and the gullible "contributors"? 

 

Or maybe they look 'more' guilty as bannon required a pardon?

 

Sucks for them, maybe.

[GrandPapillon]

8 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

Stunning you support a guy who tried to hire someone to kill another.  Shows the mentality of Trump's supporters.  Amazing.

 

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/tiger-king-joe-exotic-went-to-jail-for-more-than-one-crime.html/

 

 

have you watched the documentary, I suggest you do before you come into another silly conclusion ????

 

intend is not a crime, he was talking out of his <deleted>, and got nailed because he was a fool and self-inflicted charges in a panic

[GrandPapillon]

14 hours ago, placeholder said:

I'm sure that's why he pushed to get out of prison. Because nothing could be worse than being haunted by the victims...except being in prison.

the victims can't do much when the guy is in jail, let alone haunt him

 

with his new freedom, he will be haunted with a false sense of freedom

 

another strike of genius by Trump ????

Edited January 22, 2021 by GrandPapillon

[placeholder]

1 minute ago, GrandPapillon said:

the victims can do much when the guy is in jail, let alone haunt him

 

with his new freedom, he will be haunted with a false sense of freedom

 

another strike of genius by Trump ????

It may be a false sense of freedom, but it won't be a genuine sense of captivity. Unless this is a joke, you have to be delusional to think he's going to make himself available to be haunted. It's a big world and presumably he has the means to live where he pleases. You've been watching too many made-for-TV movies.

[placeholder]

6 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

have you watched the documentary, I suggest you do before you come into another silly conclusion ????

 

intend is not a crime, he was talking out of his <deleted>, and got nailed because he was a fool and self-inflicted charges in a panic

If that's the case then he's an innocent low-life Trump didn't pardon. Perhaps innocence is a criterion for not being pardoned by Trump?

[GrandPapillon]

in those kind of cases, putting someone in jail is the end of the story, those guys should be haunted until the end of time

 

and they will,

Edited January 22, 2021 by GrandPapillon

[GrandPapillon]

2 minutes ago, placeholder said:

If that's the case then he's an innocent low-life Trump didn't pardon. Perhaps innocence is a criterion for not being pardoned by Trump?

that's a good point, probably too "deplorable" to be pardoned, and not enough guilty to waste a pardon

[GrandPapillon]

we all know that Trump pardons was a big <deleted> to the Democrats, the press and the anti-Trump crowd

 

he wouldn't have gone that far if he hadn't been demonized and haunted so much by the press,

 

like throwing toys out of his pram ????

[placeholder]

2 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

we all know that Trump pardons was a big <deleted> to the Democrats, the press and the anti-Trump crowd

 

he wouldn't have gone that far if he hadn't been demonized and haunted so much by the press,

 

like throwing toys out of his pram ????

Right it's the media's fault.

[Opl]

8 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

we all know that Trump pardons was a big <deleted> to the Democrats, the press and the anti-Trump crowd

 

he wouldn't have gone that far if he hadn't been demonized and haunted so much by the press,

 

like throwing toys out of his pram ????

 

yes, let him go - like he begged Comey for Flynn - and you'll get rid of him.. logical 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Opl

[placeholder]

7 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

in those kind of cases, putting someone in jail is the end of the story, those guys should be haunted until the end of time

 

and they will,

Well, living your life in prison may not make for a great made-for-TV movie, but you have to be delusional to think that anyone sane and even most of the insane, would rather live a highly regulated and restrictive life  in a prison than live outside of one. But you do have a point. Living in prison is pretty much the end of your story. Unless you get beaten or something. Not really interesting at all if you're living it. 

[placeholder]

11 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

in those kind of cases, putting someone in jail is the end of the story, those guys should be haunted until the end of time

 

and they will,

Maybe we could do an update of Brer Rabbit and the briar patch. Please don't throw me out of that prison, Massuh Trump.

[tifino]

3 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

I doubt he wrote the 'very generous letter' to Joe Biden. 

whether or not one was done now pales; incomparison to the funny one doing the rounds around the internet... even Facebook fakt chuckers are having hissyfits over it.

They are so blinded by it, that they cannot see thru the smoke the obvious grammatical error that should have made it quite obvious an amerikan could not have authored the joke (Only an aussie could be forgiven for not seeing the error)

[GrandPapillon]

7 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Right it's the media's fault.

they played their parts on the whole anti-Trump hysteria, definitely guilty

[Sujo]

1 minute ago, GrandPapillon said:

they played their parts on the whole anti-Trump hysteria, definitely guilty

They are guilty of reporting his 30,000 lies for sure.

[placeholder]

2 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

they played their parts on the whole anti-Trump hysteria, definitely guilty

Because Trump definitely is not a hateful person.

The Complete List of Trump’s Twitter Insults (2015-2021)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/19/upshot/trump-complete-insult-list.html

 

[GrandPapillon]

6 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Maybe we could do an update of Brer Rabbit and the briar patch. Please don't throw me out of that prison, Massuh Trump.

what have you been smoking again this morning ????

[placeholder]

Just now, GrandPapillon said:

what have you been smoking again this morning ????

Whatever it might be, it clearly is not nearly as potent as whatever the stuff someone is consuming who claims that being pardoned out of prison is actually a punishment. I know when I'm touting fiction. You don't seem to have a clue.

[placeholder]

The Road to Clemency From Trump Was Closed to Most Who Sought It

Of the nearly 240 pardons and commutations he granted during his term, only 25 came through the regular Justice Department process. The rest were a product of connections, influence and money.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/us/politics/trump-pardons.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

[mtls2005]

"Old three shirts".  ????

 

Turns Out That Pardon Wasn’t The Get Out Of Jail Card Bannon Was Banking On

Just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in.

 

Pour one out for Old Three Shirts. Fresh off reports from CNN that New York state prosecutors are also investigating Stephen Bannon for his role in a scam to crowdfund a border wall, the feds have told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres that they’re not ready to let the defendant go just yet irrespective of his presidential pardon.

 

https://abovethelaw.com/2021/02/turns-out-that-pardon-wasnt-the-get-out-of-jail-card-bannon-was-banking-on/

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/24/politics/bannon-investigation-gains-steam/index.html

 

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20492296/bannon.pdf

[cmarshall]

1 hour ago, mtls2005 said:

"Old three shirts".  ????

 

Turns Out That Pardon Wasn’t The Get Out Of Jail Card Bannon Was Banking On

Just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in.

 

Pour one out for Old Three Shirts. Fresh off reports from CNN that New York state prosecutors are also investigating Stephen Bannon for his role in a scam to crowdfund a border wall, the feds have told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres that they’re not ready to let the defendant go just yet irrespective of his presidential pardon.

 

https://abovethelaw.com/2021/02/turns-out-that-pardon-wasnt-the-get-out-of-jail-card-bannon-was-banking-on/

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/24/politics/bannon-investigation-gains-steam/index.html

 

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20492296/bannon.pdf

 

Hmmm.  If the DoJ does continue its prosecution of Bannon and achieves conviction despite the pardon, wouldn't that mean that the same charges brought by Manhattan DA Vance would be dismissed under the double-jeopardy clause, just like Stone?

[mtls2005]

10 hours ago, cmarshall said:

If the DoJ does continue its prosecution of Bannon

 

I read the filing as slowing the roll on the Bannon indictment to protect the prosecution of Bannon's cohorts. who were left pardon-less.

 

"...while the Government does not object to administratively terminating Bannon from the case or exonerating his bail, the Government does oppose Bannon’s request that the Indictment itself be dismissed as to him."

 

 

So any state, city, county DA can go after Bannon for anything.

[cmarshall]

1 minute ago, mtls2005 said:

 

I read the filing as slowing the roll on the Bannon indictment to protect the prosecution of Bannon's cohorts. who were left pardon-less.

 

"...while the Government does not object to administratively terminating Bannon from the
case or exonerating his bail, the Government does oppose Bannon’s request that the Indictment
itself be dismissed as to him."

 

 

So any state, city, county DA can go after Bannon for anything.

 

I think it depends on how a state judge interprets that state's anti-double jeopardy statute, if there is one.  NY State does have a statute that prohibits an indictment in a state court for a charge that has already been brought at the federal level.  I don't know whether if the accused must have been convicted by a federal court to be protected against the same charge in a state court or if an ongoing indictment at the federal level is enough to prevent an indictment at the state level.  

 

Presumably the federal prosecutors are aware of the issue.  However, I don't see why the continuance of the indictment helps in obtaining Bannon's testimony against the other defendants in the case.  Even if the indictment is dropped they can always subpoena Bannon's testimony.  

[mtls2005]

38 minutes ago, cmarshall said:

However, I don't see why the continuance of the indictment helps in obtaining Bannon's testimony against the other defendants in the case. 

 

Ms. Strauss covers this in paragraph 3.

 

She's testing the limits of pardon, to protect the underlying prosecution of Bannon's cohorts.

 

 

[cmarshall]

22 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Ms. Strauss covers this in paragraph 3.

 

She's testing the limits of pardon, to protect the underlying prosecution of Bannon's cohorts.

 

 

 

But all of the possible consequences that she mentions such as preserving the defendant's disabilities caused by the indictment, could only concern Bannon himself, not his availability to provide testimony against the defendants not covered by a pardon.  So, the only interpretation is that proving Bannon's guilty actions is a basis for showing how the actions of the other defendants contributed to that crime.  But that implies that the trial should decide Bannon's guilt or innocence, since if Bannon did not commit a crime then his cronies may not have aided in the commission of any crime.  But how would rendering a decision, even if impotent, on Bannon's guilt be consistent with not objecting to terminating Bannon from the case?

 

I just hope that they don't inadvertently deprive the state prosecutors of the opportunity to prosecute Bannon.