President Joe Biden's bombshell pardon of his son Hunter, after saying for years he would not grant the younger Biden clemency, has reignited debate over the scope of presidential pardon powers.
@#7 ... "will?" ...
Or has?
Donald Trump's February 2020 trip to Las Vegas funneled over $12k to Trump Hotel (2021)
www.citizensforethics.org
... Trump International Hotel Las Vegas charged the Secret Service $12,368.66 during a three night trip to the West Coast in February 2020, according to records obtained by CREW from a Freedom of Information Act request. The receipt adds to a growing public tally of taxpayer money spent at Trump properties during his presidency, a sum that continues to balloon even after his departure.
During the trip, Trump spoke in California, Arizona, and Colorado. Instead of staying locally, Trump returned to Las Vegas each evening to stay at his own hotel, likely racking up an estimated $1.1 million in taxpayer-funded Air Force One trips. When asked why he didn't find more convenient accommodations, Trump blamed the Secret Service, telling reporters "the schedule is set by the Secret Service. We do what they want us to." An email from the Department of Homeland Security to CREW said there are no records showing that the Secret Service prefered Trump's hotel.
This spending adds to a larger body of evidence showing how President Trump used the presidency to pour taxpayer money into his businesses. ...
Whether a President can be impeached for exercising their constitutional powers is complex and subject to debate. Generally, Congress cannot impeach a President solely for exercising powers granted by the Constitution, even if Congress disagrees with how those powers are used.
However, the phrase high Crimes and Misdemeanors is not precisely defined in the Constitution, leaving room for interpretation. Impeachment is ultimately a political process, and Congress has significant discretion in determining what constitutes an impeachable offense.
While a President cannot be impeached merely for policy disagreements or unpopular decisions, if exercising constitutional powers involves abuse of office, violation of public trust, or serious misconduct, it could be grounds for impeachment. The key factor is whether the President's actions, even if technically within their constitutional authority, constitute a severe abuse of power or breach of public trust.
constitutioncenter.org
www.senate.gov
constitution.congress.gov
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Maybe continually allowing concentration and giving more and more power(s) to President / Executive Branch isn't such a good idea, as it promotes "legal / institutionalized corruption," more and more naked with each administration... unless, of course, the party out of power (and especially their rich funders) think "we want to have ALL of it when our term comes."
Which is why "fine people on both sides" will bitch and moan about more and more egregious displays of abuse of such power, but won't lift a finger or even talk about changing "the system."
You get Clintons, Trumps, Cuomos, Kennedys et al who are/were would-be kings, because parties need to perpetuate their power - because their money and their "rights" depend on it, the lives and freedoms of "ordinary" people be damned.
Instead of stripping the government and bureaucrats of some powers, the parties in power keep adding to them, hoping they will help them to entrench and advance their own interests, political and personal.
Be careful how much power you want the "government" in general and, in particular, the individuals at the top of the pyramid to have.
For example, pardons and impositions of tariffs should not be allowed to be in the hands of single individuals. (BTW, Sen. Ron Paul wanted to introduce legislation curtailing the tariff powers of Presidents)
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. ... still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it." (Lord Acton)
"Stroke of the pen, Law of the land. Kinda cool." (Paul Begala, an aide to Bill Clinton, said of executive orders)
"It's good to be the king." (Mel Brooks / King Louis, h/t Niccolo Machiavelli, author of The Prince)
"Of course the president's not the king. The president's far more powerful than the king. The president has the power that kings have never had." - Alan Dershowitz
law.stanford.edu - The President Who Would Not Be King: Executive Power and the Constitution - Michael McConnell, Director of the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, June 26, 2019
"This couldn't happen here!" ?
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