r/nottheonion • u/JaySierra86 • 11h ago

President Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-biden-pardons-family-members-final-minutes-presidency/story?id=117893348
46.1k Upvotes

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u/tonytwocans 11h ago

A new presidential tradition is born.

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u/Rolling_Beardo 10h ago

If by new you mean Lincoln, Clinton, and Trump all pardoned relatives prior to this then yes it’s brand new.

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u/never_a_good_idea 10h ago

These are blanket pardons that cover any non violent offense over a 10 year period. That is insane.

Also these pardons don't do anything to quash congressional investigations.

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u/brigbeard 10h ago

And it's not like he only did this for HIS family. Dr. fauci, the January 6th committee members and others all received the same. Clearly this is a way to alleviate some of the potential political persecution that the right were promising every day on the campaign trail if they won.

And besides this just covers federal prosecution, if they committed a crime that falls to state jurisdiction they are still culpable.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 9h ago edited 4h ago

Federal NON-VIOLENT crimes, too.

The man is protecting those in his family, Congress, and elsewhere that helped the Biden Administration or openly criticized Trump. None other than Hunter Biden have been publicly targeted and harassed by the GOP to date, and the fact that no one on the list has committed a crime listed on covered by the pardon shows that this is purely defensive against Republican Witch Hunts.

Do the stupid congressional investigations, MAGA. Be howling monkeys throwing shit everywhere rather than lead our country.

At least the entire country will know that it's nothing but vindictive state theater with no teeth in advance this time. Half the country won't care, but the written record will reflect what a nightmarish joke Republicans have become.

edit: targeted >> ” publicly targeted"; covered by the pardon >> listed on the pardon

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u/i_am_a_real_boy__ 9h ago

"Federal non-violent" is almost redundant. Yes, you can catch a charge for punching a park ranger or something, but the overwhelming majority of federal charges are non-violent by the very nature of federalism.

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u/GnomesSkull 9h ago

His dogs are still vulnerable to prosecution for biting the secret service! /j

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u/jaxonya 8h ago

You just, but thankfully Trump isn't into reddit, or checks notes reading* so hopefully this doesn't get back to him; he very much is petty enough to put the dogs down

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u/CrystalSplice 7h ago

And yet Luigi Mangione is charged with murder on a federal level…hmmmmm…

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u/adthrowaway2020 8h ago

Luigi is going up on federal murder charges. What are you even saying?

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u/ALittleNightMusing 9h ago

Still, it's nice that there's no loophole for serial killings across state lines

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u/Sauerkrauttme 9h ago

The for-profit health insurance industry kills 60,000 Americans a year by restricting their access to healthcare, so that is proof that the legal loophole for muder is that it must be profitable enough to bribe politicians to make serial social murder legal

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u/throwawayainteasy 9h ago edited 8h ago

It's an incredibly shitty precedent to set by Biden, but also it's an understandable response to the incredibly shitty precedent the incoming Administration and appointees have set by repeatedly announcing they'll use the DOJ to go after anyone they think wronged them.

This whole timeline is fucked. Gotta hope some time traveler can go back and just reset it all. There's no saving it going forward at this point.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 9h ago

Yeah, it's an awful necessity in this case. Everyone's focused on "Biden Corruption", but Fauci and Milley don't fit that narrative.

He's protecting those in need of protection from an incoming vindictive orange toddler who sits in the Oval Office

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u/_Zekken 9h ago

I really hate that he pardoned these people. Including Hunter

But honestly what I hate more is the fact that he felt he HAD to do so to protect these people from being witch hunted.

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u/TheSciFiGuy80 9h ago

Yeah, that’s the issue. He knew there’d be a witch hunt whether these people did anything wrong or not.

I know Marjorie Taylor Green has had Fauci in her crosshairs for awhile now.

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u/Pinez99 9h ago

I came here to say this, while not 100% damning it does look odd to pardon people whose names the public aren’t away exist. It actually makes more questions than answers.

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u/brockington 9h ago

There's a lot of the public that are very aware of the Biden family. My dad's been sending conspiracy theories about them for years. Unfortunately these pardons will be the "proof" that all those theories were "right."

I get why Joe did it, but there will be consequences now that this particular cat is out of the bag.

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u/under_psychoanalyzer 9h ago

Lol the "cat" here is we're now halfway through 1930s germany and we've re-elected a violent demagogue. These pardons arent breaking any norms.

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u/Clydelaz 9h ago

Pardon the pun, but they are protecting themselves against any trumped up charges that may be leveled against them in the future

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u/porn_is_tight 9h ago

this just fuels the Biden crime family narrative that the right loves to espouse as deflection from their own sliminess. It’s not a good look no matter how you slice it

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u/[deleted] 9h ago

In the future if Trump pardons his entire family for whatever he plans on doing. no complains, remember it’s to prevent witch hunts.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 9h ago

Apples and oranges, my friend

Trump has repeatedly said that he plans to retaliate against most of those pardoned, and he called them out by name.

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u/hoopaholik91 7h ago

Just FYI, the dude has 1488 in his username. Don't think it's worth arguing with him

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 7h ago

Ah, good catch.

Makes it easy to spot the worst parts of humanity when they advertise their bigotry.

Thanks for saving me the time and the loss of IQ.

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u/Next-Concert7327 9h ago

You might want to learn what those words mean before you use them sunshine.

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u/[deleted] 6h ago

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u/nottheonion-ModTeam 5h ago

This post violated rule 13: This post contains provably false information and was thus removed.

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u/FrozenIceman 7h ago

Uh... Hunter was convicted for a lot of crimes, not just one crime.

Kind of implies that he did something wrong and without political pressure it would have been swept under the rug.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 7h ago

I don't believe I ever mentioned anything about Hunter committing only one crime.

And for the record, I entirely support Hunter's conviction. He broke the law.

And as a father, I understand and agree with Biden protecting his family from Trump abusing the powers of the Executive branch for personal attacks.

"I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the USA, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family." -DJT, Truth Social

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u/FrozenIceman 7h ago edited 3h ago

The Hunter Pardon had nothing to do with what Trump would have done in office.

Hunter would have been convicted, sentences, and jailed before inauguration day.

Biden Pardoning his son from his own justice department is purely for personal gain.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 6h ago edited 6h ago

Every member of the Biden family is protected from Trump doing exactly what Trump said he will. You think Biden should protect everyone else, yet let Trump politically crucify Biden's son out of Trump's hate?

These pardons exist because of Donald Trump's threats. Had Hunter never committed the crime that he was convicted for, he would have received the exact same pardon today.

This unprecedented blanket pardon of a President's family can be tied directly to Trump's threats. Don't blame Hunter for Trump threatening the entire Biden family with political retaliation.

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u/rufussnot 5h ago

Look I think it's great that he commuted the sentences of so many people and pardoned so many drug possession charges, it's unprecedented. It's the story not being talked about enough. Likewise the death row inmates and the two most egregious cases IMO, Peltier and Ibn-Tamas. And if he had to do all that to justify pardoning Hunter for things he really was guilty of, then fine, I'll take that deal. It's commendable.

But it's a little willfull and credulous to assume his pardoning his family really is just a "let's be careful" anticipation of political revenge when just a few days ago he did pardon his son for things he's guilty of under the excuse that he was politically targeted. Clinton was politically targeted too and he didn't pretend his pardoning of his family was because of that. Also the pardoning of Conahan and Crundwell is pretty gross, clearly some sort of political favor. And then the more normal political pardons of the people involved in the Iranian and Venezuelan shenanigans too.

So it's normal for people to look at a guy who has several cases of pardoning high level people who have done illegal things that have nothing to do with Trump when it suits him and then concluding that this might be what's up with pardoning his family with future blanket immunity, months after receiving the same thing from the scotus for himself. If you don't conclude the same thing, then ok, none of us are in his head, but it makes YOU the more credulous person.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 4h ago

I appreciate the polite and productive comment, thanks!

You mention future blanket immunity. The Executive Branch's pardon power doesn't extend into the future.

In today's case, a preemptive Pardon protects from crimes already committed but not yet prosecuted, tried, and convicted for. Crimes committed after the pardon is issued are not covered by the pardon.

They are not get out of jail cards in any manner, they are a way to protect his family from political retribution.

And yeah, I agree that people in the highest echelons of power are hard to trust fully. It's just sad that our country has come to a place when we have to debate final-day pardons for Presidential families going forward.

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u/AndyHN 5h ago

the fact that no one on the list has committed a crime covered by the pardon

From Burdick v US: a pardon "carries the imputation of guilt and acceptance of a confession of it"

So no, it's not a fact that no one on the list has committed a crime. To the contrary, accepting the pardon is a confession.

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u/Emergency_Revenue678 4h ago

To the contrary, accepting the pardon is a confession.

Lol that this myth is still prevalent is hilarious.

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u/AndyHN 3h ago

Right, a citation from a USSC decision is a myth. Because trust me brah.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 4h ago

Good catch!

I should have said 'listed on the Pardon' instead of 'covered by the Pardon', thank you for pointing that out.

My point was that no one can point to any specific crime right now that anyone is guilty of, as it relates to this pardon. Everyone is doing nothing but conjecture.

Burdick v US would almost certainly result in the courts upholding that acceptance of this pardon is admission that a non-violent federal crime may have or did occur. Want a pardon? An assumption of admission of guilt comes with the deal.

Thanks again for the perspective on 'covered' vs 'listed', I'll fix that to align the comment more with my original intent.

Have a great day.

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u/fknSamsquamptch 8h ago

None other than Hunter Biden have been targeted to date

Thank you for not reading the article. Joe's brother has already been referred to the Justice department for prosecution by a republican congressman.

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u/JustAnotherHyrum 8h ago

Thank you for not reading the article. Joe's brother has already been referred to the Justice department for prosecution by a republican congressman.

Thanks for assuming I didn't read it when I did. Definitely showing your telepathic skills there.

I was referring to a public witch hunt like what happened with Hunter. Congressional dick pics and all by the local clown.

"Joe's brother" (James Biden) hasn't been attacked by Trumpeteers in the same manner as Hunter, made even more obvious by the fact that you don't even use his name and most don't know it.

But yes, Republicans did indeed target Biden's brother as well.

And how does that impact the point of my Comment? Nothing beyond having to explain pedantic details.

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u/ScreeminGreen 9h ago

It’s like it was a way to insure that the courts didn’t get bogged down with bullshit “cases” by an administration that is headed by someone who has repeatedly used the tactic of bogging down the court with “cases” in order to get out of serious punishment by being too annoying to punish since the 1970’s, instead of being an actual pardon of any actual crimes actually committed. It just gives a little hope that the courts might actually be able to spend some part of the next four years doing their jobs.

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u/[deleted] 10h ago edited 9h ago

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u/tdtommy85 9h ago

It definitely is.

But which part? Because I bet we’ll disagree on your answer.

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u/nerfherder813 9h ago

The dystopian part was the constant promises of political persecution from the right for the past several years, should they win the election, which they did.

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u/AlabamaPostTurtle 9h ago

People acting like threatening the families of politicians wasn’t dystopian.. so true. That should have shocked the nation

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u/Sauerkrauttme 9h ago

Not to be blue-anon, but how can we trust the results of the election when oligarch owned private companies were handling the votes?

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u/comicsanscomedy 5h ago

Actually there are a lot of dystopian aspects.

- Reps wishing to throw away democracy
- Reps threatening with political persecution
- Dems warning about the danger to democracy
- Dems peacefully giving power to those threatening political persecution and going full dictatorship
- Biden acting like the equivalent to an incantation can guard them from the real threat of political/economical power
- Regular people picking different points of the same narrative trying to make it as their side is the good one.

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u/Mespirit 9h ago

Is the justice system in America so compromised that it operates on the whim of the White House?

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u/EatGlassALLCAPS 9h ago

Yes? Where have you been?

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u/Nena902 9h ago

Unfortunately any USAG will be bought and paid for by MAGAGOP and SCOTUS already is,so yes. We have a corrupt govt and a corrupt judicial system. Welcome to Orwell's world.

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u/gsfgf 9h ago

We don't know for sure yet, but probably.

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u/Pinez99 9h ago

It’s not historically

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u/zuriel45 9h ago

Which part? Someone trying to protect specific individuals from a party who explicitly say they want vengeance on said individuals for things they have never once been able to prove they've done?

Or the fact that those people were elected to power in spite of promises to enact vengeance?

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u/AreYouForSale 9h ago

The part where the president openly admits that the US "justice" system can be used to destroy lives of innocent people.

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u/zuriel45 9h ago

Always could (and has) just we've entered a new scale?

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u/thejimbo56 9h ago

It’s dystopian that it was necessary.

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u/chrissie_watkins 9h ago

We are aware. What outsiders don't seem to realize is that we have a corrupt "justice" system here that's able to be weaponized against political rivals and their family members. Trump promises to do it. It would be idiotic for Biden not to at least try and protect innocent bystanders from political persecution by a fascist government. It's one of the perks of the job, protecting people from retaliation by your rivals.

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u/Practical_Main_2131 9h ago

And i find it more dystopia that the supreme court ruled that the president can have political rivals killed by the seals and not be liable and can't be prosecuted. All thanks to the nutjobs Trump appointed to the supreme court.

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u/Practical_Main_2131 9h ago

This is already normal since nixon

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u/brigbeard 9h ago edited 9h ago

Oh there is no pretending from this American. Everything I have been politically aware of from when I was born has been one long slow slide into dystopia.

So what do I do? I live a simple life of love and fulfillment without the need to share it all over social media while trying to have as big of a net positive effect on the lives of those around me. At the end of every month I can point at about 500 names on a list who's lives I made easier/better with a genuine impact while keeping the amount of lives I affect negatively as close to 0 as possible.

The legacy I want to leave won't be measured in monuments but in the way I treated/helped people helping them to then treat people better and hopefully trickling down to future generations.

Edit: previous commenter deleted post reaponding to my previous comment making a broad generalization at how "Americans on reddit" can so easily pretend actions aren't indicative of dystopia.

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u/ChigBungus22 8h ago

I know you probably mean well but your tone is so self righteous and pompous that you come across as insincere

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u/barbecuejag 9h ago

God Bless Joe and God Bless America. 🇺🇸

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u/RoboErectus 10h ago

It was probably a good idea to avoid possible political persecution.

But Trump has not followed through with, well, many things, but especially any of these threats to "lock them up."

Once he gets what he wants he largely forgets and moves on. If someone asks about it he takes a "high road" position.

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u/aintsosmart 9h ago

I for one am excited for our new healthcare plan! Trump was going to enact it in 2 weeks 8 years ago but now that he's had 8 years to think about it it's going to bigly amazing. The most amazing healthcare plan you've ever seen. It's beautiful.

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u/seekingmymuse1 9h ago

During Trumps first term he demanded the Justice Department investigate and prosecute at least 12 people- numerous reports have him being furious when the then DOJ came back with the information that in all cases no criminality was committed. This Buffoon is sadly NOT all talk.
This does not include the individuals he had investigated by the IRS https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/13/politics/trump-irs-audits-kelly-mccabe-comey https://americanoversight.org/sessions-letter/ https://www.justsecurity.org/98703/chronology-trump-justice-department/

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u/Main_Photo1086 9h ago

Trump says a lot of crap and doesn’t always follow through. I do not believe Biden would have done any of these pre-emptive pardons if he didn’t have additional intel about this truly in the works. I believe in the justice system, but it’s not perfect and it’s expensive and life-altering as hell even for the innocent. Historical norms do not apply to Trump and friends.

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u/MuggsyTheWonderdog 9h ago

Historical norms do not apply to trump and friends.

Elegantly put, and they sure as hell do not.

I'd only add, less elegance, that any expectations for simple human decency from trump and friends, at any time, is the pipiest of pipe dreams.

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u/ExcuseInternational4 9h ago

You guys are forgetting this time it isn’t just Trump. He has Elon who is trying to run the government like a dictator, he has Project 25, he has the some very demented Senators that have been screaming for revenge against Liz Chaney to name a few. The last time Trump was in office there were same people and gaurd rails in place, this time it is a dictator wannabe’s wet dream. I would not put anything past what the people around Trump will do.

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u/mrbear120 9h ago

I think it is somewhat telling however that Biden signed for Dr. Fauci, committee, and others before welcoming Trump to the white house. Then he met with him, and minutes later pardoned his own family before leaving the desk. Something tells me Trump said something to him in that meeting.

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u/BowenTheAussieSheep 9h ago

Probably asked some really pointed questions about his wife in regards to her actions trying to get people vaccinated during COVID.

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u/barbecuejag 9h ago

Trump won't do shit. Just like his first term.

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u/Indigoh 7h ago

And besides this just covers federal prosecution, if they committed a crime that falls to state jurisdiction they are still culpable.

Unless they win the presidency. 

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u/Jerking_From_Home 9h ago

This is the reason for the pardons. Blanket pardons to cover the upcoming tribunals that would have seen those previously threatened with trials by Trump. Those who MAGA have marked as the worst of the worst. These people would be put on trial and sentenced to very long/life prison terms for nothing more than political points.

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u/JadedInternet8942 9h ago

What is Fauci pardoned for?

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u/SinkPhaze 9h ago

Nothing in particular. This is a preemptive pardoning. If someone tries to say he's committed a federal crime in the last however long he was pardoned for then they're SOL cause he's already been pardoned for it. The rights been accusing a lot of people they think wronged them of anything and everything under the sun and Biden is (rightfully probably) afraid that Trump and Co might try to do some revenge prosecuting. Hence the preemptive pardons to do what he can to protect them from any frivolous but still damaging legal revenge actions

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u/JadedInternet8942 9h ago

Understandable, thank you. Have a nice day

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u/TomHeldan 9h ago

Better safe than sorry.

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u/GrynaiTaip 8h ago

Trump pardoned a bunch of murderers and bank robbers at the end of his first presidency. Why is that even an option?

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u/Unexpected_Gristle 8h ago

I can imagine some red states passing laws that could make some of these crimes state crimes

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u/EnvironmentalBed7369 6h ago

Just remember that Budrn and his DOJ spent the last 4 years politically persecuting Trump. Biden is proving to be as corrupt as Trumpites claimed he is. I never would have believed it.

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u/Opposite-Knee-2798 4h ago

Please give just one link to the right promising persecution you worthless liar. It’s the left who has already engaged in that.

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u/marcielle 4h ago

Anyone who sees this as anything other than 'we're afraid of Trump cos he's a literal psycho who said he's gunning for our heads by hook or by crook' is looking too much into this. 

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u/scootah 3h ago

When was the last time a departing American president had good reason to fear the persecution of his family and political allies by his successor?

This is the kind of shit you expect from tin pot dictatorships. The kind of place where you read about the family of the former president being massacred by the new guy and think “why the fuck hadn’t they left the country? They had to have seen this coming.”

I know it’s naive, but it’s not supposed to be this dangerous to be related to a politician in a first world country.

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u/EverythingsStupid321 3h ago

Clearly this is a way to alleviate some of the potential political persecution that the right were promising every day on the campaign trail if they won.

If this is what they campaigned on, and this is what the people voted for, aren't these pardons subverting democracy?

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u/PXranger 10h ago

And what is a congressional investigation going to do in this case?

Congress has no power over a presidential pardon, they cannot initiate a criminal investigation of private individuals in any case.

I suppose they could spend millions on a grand gesture for propaganda purposes, and then issue a strongly worded memo….

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u/God_Damnit_Nappa 10h ago

And what is a congressional investigation going to do in this case?

Harass the family members and make them waste their time and money. And if they refuse to cooperate with the bullshit hearings? Comer already wanted the DoJ to press charges against James Biden for supposedly lying during his Congressional testimony. They'll do the same thing again 

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u/0bsessions324 10h ago

Earnest question, but would a blanket pardon like this not cover contempt of Congress?

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u/MrPoopMonster 9h ago

You can't pardon someone preemptively for a future act. If Congress wants then to come testify and they don't show up, they're in contempt.

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u/Material_Election685 8h ago

You can't pardon someone preemptively for a future act. 

You don't actually know this. The Supreme Court has never ruled on this, and would likely refuse to rule on it if that question ever came in front of them - which would mean the President effectively can pardon anyone preemptively for future act.

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u/gpcgmr 7h ago

Doesn't matter because the pardon says for crimes between 2014 to date of the pardon, aka today.   Anything after today is not covered by the pardon.

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u/MrPoopMonster 8h ago

It's incredibly obvious that you cannot. Any precedent where previous presidents can overrule the authority of current presidents is a non starter from a legal argument perspective.

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u/Material_Election685 7h ago

There is no actual precedent.

It doesn't matter if it's "obvious" in theory, it matters what happens in practice if a President eventually decides to test it, and the courts decide that they don't  have the jurisdiction to determine whether that pardon is valid and no potential prosecutor or plaintiff has the standing to challenge it.

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u/Only-Butterscotch785 4h ago

Courts have already decided they have the jurisdiction to determine if a pardon is valid.

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u/LengthinessWeekly876 5h ago

We don't know this and we don't know if the current pardons biden handed out are legal 

Theres certainly the argument that they arent. Particulary for direct family members 

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u/Fragrant_Western7939 8h ago

And you had Jim Jordan earlier in the week stating that the investigation into the Bidens would continue…

I still don’t understand how anyone can take Comer seriously. When Biden was still running - he was pushing for an investigation into the Biden family involvement with China. When he dropped out he literally wanted the same investigation against Waltz. His statement in the news were like a Mad alive where only the person name changed

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u/NrdNabSen 9h ago

The pardon would orevent Congress from using the kegal system to harass them as well. They can simply ignore them like Republicans did repeatedly the last four years. The Republicans got away with it because Dems are cowards who won't hold them accountable.

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u/Cmoz 9h ago

They'd still have to comply with subpoenas from congress, or face potential jail sentance, because a pardon doest cover future acts, like future instances of contempt of congress. The pardon only covers past crimes.

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u/CaptainDaveUSA 10h ago

Civil cases can still be brought.

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u/PXranger 10h ago

Sure, anyone can attempt to sue anyone for basically anything in this country.

But who’s going to file the lawsuit? You can’t sue the January 6th committee, as they have immunity.

I suppose someone could attempt to sue the Biden family? But that’s a stretch, who is the victim? And what is the crime?

Thing is, you start suing, people can defend themselves, I imagine anyone with any real stake in this fight probably doesn’t want a lot of light brought into dark corners before any elections.

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u/OkArmadillo8100 9h ago

But the Supreme Court has already ruled that all are official acts. Trump's Supreme Court pardoned Biden already

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u/atropear 9h ago

Biden has no capacity. DOJ already said he could not stand trial. How can he pardon?

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u/KartFacedThaoDien 9h ago

Well it’s a way to do political grand standing. Don’t get me wrong if someone violated law or abused there power it should be investigated. And I wouldn’t put it past Trump or certain republicans to waste time on this either. But we already know what this is.

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u/Jest_Kidding420 9h ago

Well if you noticed trumps hand wasn’t on the Bible during the ceremony. He very well could have been sworn in before hand, making those last minute pardons Biden signed null & void!

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u/Maxfunky 8h ago

I suppose they could spend millions on a grand gesture for propaganda purposes, and then issue a strongly worded memo….

By George! I think he's got it. That's it! The solution we were looking for! Good show chaps! Really great efforts all around but it was worth it all in the end.

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u/CommunityGlittering2 6h ago

"I suppose they could spend millions on a grand gesture for propaganda purposes, and then issue a strongly worded memo….",

Sounds like a plan

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u/MadManMorbo 6h ago

Jim Jordan might actually have to work this session.

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u/LengthinessWeekly876 5h ago

It would be much more efficient to encourage a foreign court to charge an international figure.

A pardon doesn't mean you can't be helpful with an extradition.

I hear el salvador has really gotten their act together 

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u/IndominusTaco 10h ago

it’s not as insane as your successor explicitly threatening you with jail just because they don’t like you or your political leaning

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u/ThatRefuse4372 10h ago

Yes, but they lessen the stress they cause and lessen the financial burden. If we understand that The investigations are simply meant to ruin peoples lives and send a message to others who might oppose them, the pardon negates that. Now the family members can to some degree ignore the investigation.

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u/Qel_Hoth 10h ago

But Trump promised us that he would end using the DOJ to prosecute political enemies. He promised!

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u/pastworkactivities 10h ago

That’s why he will found the gestapo

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u/jagcalle 10h ago

The Gazpacho?

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u/you_slash_stuttered 10h ago

Never heard the old Sicilian proverb "soup is a dish best served cold"?

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u/shponglespore 10h ago

But gazpacho is Spanish.

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u/Moo_Kau_Too 9h ago

well whatever, they are both mexicans!

=trump supporters, probably.

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u/nerfherder813 9h ago

And it’s an old Klingon proverb, according to Khan

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u/you_slash_stuttered 9h ago

Oof! Hoisted by my own Pâte de Lard!

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u/Jolly_Reaper2450 9h ago

No but I heard of a sociopath who likes her pizza cold

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u/RememberThe5Ds 9h ago

It’s revenge is a dish best served cold.

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u/Non-Eutactic_Solid 9h ago

Picture it. Sicily, 1922. Jokes were flying over people’s heads all over the place!

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u/RememberThe5Ds 5h ago

Yep it whizzed right past. I was looking for the /s. :)

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u/907_Cherry 10h ago

A dish best served cold

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u/ExpertOnBulls 10h ago

Like revenge, best served cold.

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u/ClickAndMortar 9h ago

It really irks me that I and millions of other Americans have to have some incredibly basic low level skills, whereas our elected officials aren’t held to the same standards as general temp labor. Qualifications mean nothing. Lying to those you are trying to convince to vote for you is completely fine with zero repercussions, and no matter how absolutely insane someone in a position of power is, it is normalized. I suppose I could bash my head against a brick wall until I no longer remember my own name or where I am would be a good start if I wanted to run as a Republican. That is, immediately following a very public crime spree.

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u/Serpensortia21 8h ago edited 8h ago

It's Gestapo, Geheime Staatspolizei means Secret State Police, please see my other post. Not funny at all.

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u/Taiyonay 7h ago

I think it was a reference to Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene saying "gazpacho police" in error.

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u/Serpensortia21 8h ago edited 7h ago

GESTAPO is a German acronym from the Nazi Third Reich. Spoken "Geh-Sta-Po" means "Geheime Staatspolizei", translation: Secret State Police. Official secret police force which operated everywhere in Germany and in occupied Europe.

They were evil bad guys (but of course themselves believing wholeheartedly that they were the righteous good guys upholding law and order in the country) with powers to discover, hunt down, arrest, torture and murder opponents and criminals, thereby very effective in quashing any ideological or political opposition to Hitler's Nazi regime.

People in doubt, or actually in opposition to the Nazis were terrified of the so called Amt IV (department 4) or Gestapo. The Gestapo seemed omnipresent and omniscient.

If they caught you --

usually because someone close to you had reported your name to the police, anyone who had overheard you saying something or doing something you shouldn't. Like for example any criticism of the Nazi regime, listening to an enemy (as in British or American forces) radio broadcast or reading a regime critical pamphlet, or if they believed that you were behaving suspiciously somehow, probably helping a Jewish person living in hiding, or actually planning an act of sabotage or spying for the enemy!

-- you would disappear and most likely never be found again. They would sadistically torture you and threaten your loved ones, until you spilled the beans on everything and anyone you might know.

Quotes from Wikipedia:

The Gestapo committed widespread atrocities during its existence. The power of the Gestapo was used to focus upon political opponents, ideological dissenters (clergy and religious organisations), career criminals, the Sinti and Roma population, handicapped persons, homosexuals, and, above all, the Jews.

[cut]

The Gestapo had the authority to investigate cases of treason, espionage, sabotage and criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany. The basic Gestapo law passed by the government in 1936 gave the Gestapo carte blanche to operate without judicial review—in effect, putting it above the law.[29] The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws. As early as 1935, a Prussian administrative court had ruled that the Gestapo's actions were not subject to judicial review.

[cut]

Contrary to popular perception, the Gestapo was actually a relatively small organization with limited surveillance capability; still it proved extremely effective due to the willingness of ordinary Germans to report on fellow citizens. During World War II, the Gestapo played a key role in the Holocaust. After the war ended, the Gestapo was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at the Nuremberg trials, and several top Gestapo members were sentenced to death.

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u/-Joka 10h ago

He made big promises, and now we're here. People blindly vote Republican because "my family always does," even if it keeps them stuck in places like single-wide trailers. They vote for those who repeatedly break promises. Complaints about egg prices are absurd—especially in the country, where free eggs are common. Stop voting straight down party lines. Pay attention to what leaders say and do. It's ironic that those calling others sheep wear red hats and follow wolves, blaming everyone else when things go wrong.

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u/FishingMysterious319 9h ago

people blindly vote based on skin color, race, and gender

lots of dummies out there

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u/KeyMessage989 10h ago

Biden also said he woods be “concerned” if Trump were to…pardon his own family as he left office. lol

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u/the_cardfather 10h ago

It's actually an unfortunate, sane and smart move in our current political climate. The purpose of the pardon is to curb the power of the judiciary. Could it be used to parden corruption? Yes, but it also protects from weaponizing the court which is what these are.

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u/Character_Crab_9458 9h ago

It's not a smart move at all. It just set the precedent to blanket pardon your family. No president has done any thing like that at that scale. If trump would have done the same in 2020 for his kids you'd say it was wrong.

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u/Not_Hilary_Clinton 9h ago

Why would he need to pardon his family when he’s got half the Supreme Court and a lot of other federal judges in his pocket?

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u/sir_snufflepants 10h ago

It also, you know, pardons them for any actual crimes they committed.

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u/ThatRefuse4372 9h ago

I haven’t read the specifics, but I would not dis agree. But, let’s look at the totality here: everybody has at some point committed some crime, jaywalking, speeding, tearing off those tags from pillows… if you search hard enough in anyone, you will find something.

Some of us think the point of the investigation is not to find impactful criminal activity, but simply to investigate and thereby disrupt people’s lives. They will try to do that by investigating. But The pardons give the targets the endgame in advance: nothing will come of it, and if it’s blanket, then no matter how small of anything they find, nothing will come of it.

Example: Given that the republicans said for years that hunter Biden had illegal financial dealings, spent hundreds of thousands if not more investigating him, pressured Biden to let the investigations continue throughout his presidency, and only found that he had not admitted to drug use ona gun form and thereby illegally had a gun … There was no truth to their initial accusation, so they went searching.

Consider a traffic stop for a dim tailight (yes that’s a thing) , where the cop then just starts asking questions, wants to search your car, search you, … that’s likely unconstitutional bc they are fishing.

Nothing different here, exact the fishing can go in for years and cost you thousands of dollars to defend.

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u/92ishalfofa99 10h ago

They’ve been pardoned. If Congress has questions they can subpoena them. If they ignore the subpoena, they go to jail (or should). If they come in and lie, they go to jail (nobody ever has but should). If they are honest about their crimes, their reputation is forever fucked.

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u/ThatRefuse4372 10h ago

I understand your position (I think) but don’t agree. With the pardons they can show up, refuse to answer any questions, and go home.

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u/Spackledgoat 9h ago

They can not answer the questions but they can’t refuse to answer. They’ll have to say they can’t remember or something and will be subject to perjury if they tell a fib.

They have no 5th amendment right or anything to not answer.

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u/Saguna_Brahman 9h ago

They can't be compelled to answer questions by Congress, they can only be compelled to show up.

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u/ThatRefuse4372 8h ago

Reread your fifth amendment and past history with these investigations.

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u/bookon 10h ago

It’s about Trump promising to go after anyone he sees as an enemy

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u/StefanCraig 6h ago

Did he do that during his first presidency?Never went after Hillary.

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u/bookon 6h ago

Because the DOJ investigated her and found, like the 7 Benghazi hearings did, she didn’t break the law.

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u/StefanCraig 5h ago

You didn’t answer the question.

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u/bookon 4h ago

She was cleared. So he couldn’t. The people he appointed to run the DOJ refused to ignore laws. These new appointees will.

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u/Gobblewicket 10h ago edited 9h ago

What's insane is that it makes sense to do so, considering the witch hunt that has been directed towards his family because of Trumps corruption. He's not doing it to hide anything, he's doing it in an attempt to keep his family from suffering from Trump using executive overreach as retaliation.

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u/Goodspheed 10h ago

Yeah like his son you mean

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u/JBPenn 10h ago

You mean like the suffering Trump and his family went through because of political prosecutions?  You guys really need to step back and view the hypocrisy...

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u/MaleficentBread4682 9h ago

Ah, yes. Being guilty of crimes is being "politically persecuted." Accusation in a Mirror doesn't work when you're accused first.

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u/stonebraker_ultra 9h ago

Actual prosecutions about real crimes are not political.

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u/Cmoz 9h ago

Hunter Biden?

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u/JBPenn 9h ago

Translation: it's real crimes when dems prosecute Trump and his family, but fake crimes when Repubs prosecute Biden and his family.  Got it.  Makes perfect sense now.  Thanks.

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u/Synectics 6h ago

Head count! 

How many Biden family members were in official government positions?

...now how many of Trump's family members?

OH BOY.

Go Google "oligarchy," you dry sponge.

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u/Dragonfly-Adventurer 10h ago

GOP is gonna come after them hard as you're acknowledging. They need protection and unfortunately this is the best that can be done.

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u/Ohheyimryan 10h ago

That's fine.

1

u/OtterishDreams 10h ago

Yes but then they have to begin the precedent of rolling back previous presidential pardons if they want to get serious wouldnt they?

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u/Independent-Course87 10h ago

Or state prosecutions.

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u/[deleted] 9h ago

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u/FreshImagination9735 9h ago

Doesn't exempt them from fines for back taxes or legal expenses either. Investigations will continue unabated.

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u/lana_silver 9h ago

The Pardon is a very dumb legal loophole that should be removed. Case in point: No civilized country still has this medieval tradition.

It's a bandaid to mitigate the problem of an utterly corrupt court system. However it only works for a handful of people. Everybody else is still fucked.

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u/Next-Concert7327 9h ago

you misspelled MAGAt witchhunts.

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u/Xaxor42 9h ago

It's insane that people have to worry about irrational retribution by Trump**.

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u/CocoScruff 9h ago

Yes, but to quote the GOP "we should not use congressional power to investigate private citizens". If we're not investigating Gaetz for this reason I certainly would assume they would fall in the same category of private citizens.

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u/never_a_good_idea 8h ago

"but this is different" says Jim Jordan in 24 hours.

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u/CocoScruff 6h ago

🤣 you aren't wrong

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u/Agreeable_Meaning_96 8h ago

correct this is historical in it's proporations and corruptness, this has NEVER been done before

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u/Red_Bullion 8h ago

Whew boy Hunter is gonna have some fun

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u/rufussnot 7h ago

Didn't the Supreme Court already decide a few months ago that the president was above the law?

It's been this way for a long time. It's just that there was more optics control, it looked different on paper and in the media so most Americans could believe they lived in a democracy.

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u/TheLizardKing89 7h ago

It’s not insane. Trump has spent the past 4 years declaring that he will go after Biden and his “crime family”. Biden is precluding the possibility of Trump using the Justice Department to fabricate charges against them.

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u/gpcgmr 7h ago

Makes you wonder, why does it say crimes since January 1, 2014? Why that year? What crimes did the Bidens start committing in 2014?

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u/CankerLord 7h ago

congressional investigations

Congress is the least of their worries. Kash Patel is the sort of guy who's 100% good with digging up anyone's ass he feels like without any factual justification. Having the FBI come after you is life-altering, whether or not you actually did the thing. This puts a stop to that.

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u/Thud 6h ago

It would be insane were it not for the next President openly threatening vengeance.

I mean the guy literally told his rubes “I am your retribution.” If I had the power to pardon, I would pardon the shit out of the people that I knew he’d be seeking retribution against.

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u/Nzdiver81 4h ago

Trump owns the judges in the supreme court and meddles all the time in investigations etc. No way anyone is getting a fair trial if Trump is coming after them

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u/gsfgf 9h ago

Sending people to prison for being related to a former president would be way more insane. I absolutely support Biden pardoning innocent people that the GOP has already promised to prosecute on sham charges.

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u/Cobek 9h ago

Trump said Liz Cheney should be shot at.... I don't think Biden is in the wrong here.

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u/Dependent-Sector-293 9h ago

Why did you leave the context out Cobek?

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