Trump pardons 15, including two in Russia probe, Baghdad massacre convicts
President Donald Trump pardoned 15 people, including Republican allies, his 2016 campaign official George Papadopoulos – who was implicated in the Russia probe and former Blackwater contractors who were convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad and were serving lengthy sentences. The Republican allies he pardoned are former representatives Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York.
To quote a lawyer friend: “This is a very neat summary written by dear Duke friend Peter Coyle. I had recalled the 1915 US Supreme Court case from law school days, but could not remember the case name, and did not know the annotation about Gerald Ford: ‘In 1915, in the Burdick case, the US Supreme Court ruled that the granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt and accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt. While a pardon prevents criminal penalties it can be used as evidence in civil lawsuits and administrative penalty rulings. After Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, Ford carried a card with the key phrase from that decision in his wallet so he could quote it if questioned about why he had issued the pardon.’” So keep that in mind, when people claim a pardoned person isn’t a criminal: EVERY single ONE of them, WHO ACCEPTS a PARDON, ADMITS GUILT!
What about Snowden and Assange?
Notably the list doesn’t include Assange, Manning, or Ross Ulbricht.