AlterNet: Can George W. Bush 'Self-Pardon' Himself?

[marmar]

Can George W. Bush 'Self-Pardon' Himself?

By Stephen M Brown, AlterNet. Posted November 24, 2008.

There's no definitive legal consensus on whether a president can pardon himself. But Bush may well give the theorists an answer.



Charlotte Dennett promised that, if she won her race for attorney general of Vermont in the recent election, she would prosecute George W. Bush for the murder of 4,000 American soldiers and more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians after he left office.

Unfortunately, Dennett did not become Vermont's attorney general. But it is possible (perhaps very possible) that one or more of our other 49 state attorneys general will take up that case after Jan. 20. Hopefully, that AG will appoint -- as Dennett promised to do --famed criminal attorney Vincent Bugliosi (author of The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder) as special prosecutor.

However, there will be no prosecution or trial of George Bush -- or Dick Cheney, or Donald Rumsfeld, or Condoleezza Rice, or any of the others who deliberately deceived America into a war that should never have been waged -- if Bush decides to pardon not only his accomplices in crime but also himself.

We know that a president can pardon anyone, for any reason, and for any federal crime (except in cases of impeachment), not only after a conviction has been handed down in trial, but before any trial has even taken place, indeed before any charges have even been filed -- as Gerald Ford infamously pardoned Richard Nixon for Watergate; as George H. W. Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger, Elliott Abrams and various CIA officials accused and/or convicted in connection with the Iran-Contra affair; as Bill Clinton pardoned his brother, Roger, for drug trafficking and financier Marc Rich for tax evasion (after Rich's wife made a significant donation to the Clinton Presidential Library); and as current President George W. Bush more recently commuted "Scooter" Libby's prison term. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/rights/108317/can_george_w._bush_%27self-pardon%27_himself/

[Lint Head]

1. He can have people murdered in the name of oil and nothing

is done about it. He will probably do whatever he wants and retire wealthy.
:dem:

[Mike Nelson]

2. Bush should be jailed

letting Nixon go was a mistake.

[charlie]

3. Probably already pardoned

There were days Cheney was the acting prez, like when the Doofus was getting his bunghole probed by surgeons. You know Cheney's not one to let a whole day with that kind of power go to waste. Idjit probably carries it in his wallet, waiting for the moment he can go BAM, eat THIS, neener neener!

[cobalt1999]

4. No need.

The cold hard truth is he'll never be charged for anything, so there is no need for a pardon.

[Ganja Ninja]

5. He can't pardon himself from an indictment by the world court.

And he can't appeal their verdict to the supreme court either.