I posted this when Trump first fired one of the most powerful weapons in his arsenal against democracy: The power to pardon. Arpaio’s pardon was news in and of itself but lost in all the stories about the pardon was an understanding of what this act portended for the future of the rule of law. The power to pardon gives Trump a get-out-of-jail-free card for loyalists who break the law in his service. It also sends a powerful message to former loyalists that if they turned on Trump they would do some time no matter the plea agreement but if they stood silent they would avoid jail altogether. Trump pardoned Dinesh Joseph D’Souz who wrote a book attacking Obama and is a poster child for kooky conspiracy theories. He pardoned an officer court martialed for murdering an Iraqi and Conrad Black a friend, supporter and Trump biographer. He granted a few symbolic clemencies to dead Americans like Jack Johnson, a nod to the Black vote, and Susan B. Anthony to court the feminist vote. But the most egregious misuse of the power to pardon was reserved for Roger Stone, convicted for crimes directly related to the investigation and impeachment of Trump. And there’s every indication that Trump will pardon Manafort, convicted of lying to Mueller and obstruction of justice. In other words since Arpaio Trump has demonstrated a willingness to use pardons to thwart the Mueller probe and obstruct impeachment proceedings. There is nothing to prevent him from dangling a pardon if caught and rewards if not to motivate an overzealous staffer or a WH official to break the law to keep Trump in the White House.
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Trump’s pardon of Arpaio is not the least bit surprising. There is consistency in this chaos; method to the madness. The pardon serves 3 purposes. 1) It sends a message to the klanzi’s that Trump embraces the racist and fascist doctrines at the core of their beliefs notwithstanding Bannon’s and Gorka’s forced departures. 2). It sends a message to witnesses whose testimony in the Mueller investigation would prove damaging that they should deny his involvement and, if convicted, he will pardon them. In this context, the pardon is just another, more subtle form of obstruction. 3) It deepens the racial divisions in our country that Trump (and Russia) exploited to commandeer the WH and will continue to exploit to keep it. Trump is a dangerous and desperate man being squeezed on all sides by Putin, home grown fascists, microscopic but growing Republican dissent, Mueller’s investigation and the possibility of a Democrat-controlled Congress after 2018. Military intervention in Venezuela, a trade war with China and Mexico, civil war at home, defaulting on our debt and a nuclear war with Korea are all tactics he won’t hesitate to use to save himself. The power to pardon Is just another tactic to this end.
The President … shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of impeachment. Article Two of the United States Constitution, Section 2, Clause 1