Donald, we’ve been over this before
I can’t believe that he has to be reminded of this, but here goes: No Donald, you are not above the law. During an early Monday morning tweet storm, Donald Trump appeared to be using his typical tactic of distracting from some big story about to break or another indictment of someone close to him. In the series of tweets he claimed that the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was “UNCONSTITUTIONAL” and went so far as to claim that “numerous legal scholars” believe he has the right to pardon himself.
In reality, most actual legal scholars have stated that is not the case, as the Constitution ensures that nobody is above the law. Representative Ted Deutch responded to Trump on Twitter, stating “You can’t pardon yourself” and then adding “Let me remind you of something, we don’t live in a monarchy and you are not a king.” Harvard Professor of Constitutional Law Laurence Tribe reacted to Trump’s claims as “ludicrous” and “legal fantasy.” It’s not surprising that the most vocal supporters of Trump’s insane claims are Rudy Giuliani and Alan Dershowitz.
While Giuliani has been in Trump’s corner since he first began campaigning, Dershowitz’s support of Trump has been intensifying since Trump took office. In July of last year, Dershowitz penned on opinion piece for The Hill stating arguing whether or not a president could pardon himself, summarizing his answer as “Nobody knows.” Since then, he’s moved closer to the opinion that Trump is indeed above the law and further from what the Constitution actually states.
Even though the Constitution is clear in that Trump cannot pardon himself, or even his co-conspirators, as the Mueller investigation gets closer to himself and his family there is a high likelihood that he will create a constitutional crisis in an effort to delay his imminent removal from office and subsequent prosecution. Things will likely get much crazier before they get back to normal, but to ensure the protection of our democracy, anything is worth it.
I’m a ceramic engineer living in Central New York, avid sports fan but find myself more interested in politics lately.