What Donald Trump just gave away about Mike Pence
Donald Trump gave away a lot yesterday when he announced that he has an “absolute right” to pardon himself. He revealed that, even if he has somehow convinced himself that he didn’t do anything wrong, he understands that he’s in severe legal danger, and that he’s running out of options when it comes to fending off his inevitable ouster, indictment, arrest and trial. In the process, Trump also gave away something about Mike Pence.
We know that Richard Nixon inquired about pardoning himself. The Department of Justice told Nixon it wouldn’t be constitutional. A few days later, Nixon resigned, without even bothering to try pardoning himself and waiting to see whether the courts upheld it or struck it down. But see, Nixon had an ace up his sleeve. He had a strong sense that Gerald Ford was going to pardon him after assuming the presidency, and sure enough, that’s what happened. Nixon got off the hook without having to try to pardon himself.
All along, Palmer Report has argued that if Mike Pence inherits the presidency, he’s too savvy and selfish to take the extraordinary risk of pardoning Donald Trump. Ford immediately shattered his presidency, before it even began, when he misread the public’s mood and pardoned Nixon. Pence won’t make that same mistake; he’ll let Trump rot. There are others who disagree with that premise, and think Pence will pardon Trump. But now we know that Trump doesn’t think Pence will pardon him.
If Donald Trump thought he could count on a Mike Pence pardon, he wouldn’t even be considering making the almost-sure-to-fail move of trying to pardon himself. Instead he’d just hang on as long as he could, then resign once it was realistically over for him, and accept Pence’s pardon and move on. Trump just gave away that he doesn’t think Pence will pardon him. Maybe it’s because he knows Pence is too much of a selfish opportunist. Maybe he thinks Pence is going down too. But either way, Trump just gave away that he thinks a pardon from Pence is a non-starter.
