Well-Worth Reading

Great paper from the ACLU (by attorney Amanda Shanor) on why Trump cannot pardon himself and cannot pardon others for corrupt reason, nor why (as Rudy Giuliani tried to contend) the only remedy for a corrupt president is impeachment.

One passage:  “Trump’s lawyers assert that because the president is the chief law enforcement officer of the nation, he cannot obstruct justice, no matter what he does.  This cannot be right. If the president, say, ordered the end of the Paul Manafort investigation because Manafort paid him a bribe, or because the investigation might reveal criminal wrongdoing by the president or his family and friends, that would be a classic ‘corrupt’ interference.”

Additionally, when answering Mr. Guiliani, she writes that by his standards it would be impossible to impeach any president since he could simply shut down all investigations and couldn't be touched by the law.  She writes:

“This framework would make no sense were the president free to end any investigation into whether he broke the law, as Trump’s lawyers argue.  Accordingly, when the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Nixon, lawmakers on both sides of that debate recognized that presidential obstruction of justice was not only impeachable but also a crime.”

You can read the full piece here.