His pardon spree will be his concession speech
No president has ever tried to pardon himself, his family members, or his criminal co-conspirators. So these pardons will all be challenged in court, and there’s no precedent for how it’ll play out. Anyone who claims to know is just guessing. It’ll take years to play out.
But the point is that pardons aren’t magic wands. They won’t protect anyone on state charges. They may get thrown out in court anyway. And since pardons are admissions of guilt, they’ll open Trump and his people up to all kinds of litigation going forward. In fact, if any of Trump’s underlings accept a pardon, they’ll no longer have any Fifth Amendment protections, and they’ll be required to testify against Trump at trial. It’s a sticky mess that won’t go well for Trump’s side.
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