'Both sides are preparing for a possible showdown': Mueller is delving into Trump's pardon power

[applegrove]

Sonam Sheth at Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-trump-russia-pardon-power-2017-10

SNIP..........


Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is looking into whether there are any limits on President Donald Trump's pardon powers as the FBI investigates Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Michael Dreeben, a seasoned prosecutor working with Mueller, is delving into past presidential pardons as the special counsel lays out a legal strategy, to ensure that Mueller's case has a solid foundation and can stand up to possible appeals, the report said.

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So far, established constitutional limits on the president's pardon power prevent it from affecting impeachment proceedings and bar it from being applicable to state crimes.

But longtime federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti wrote Tuesday that it doesn't mean no other constitutional limits exist; merely that they have not yet been tested. Those possible limits are likely the questions Dreeben is looking into.

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[bagelsforbreakfast]

1. now it's starting to get interesting... n/m

[nycbos]

2. I think Dreeben was Mueller 's first hire.

Seems like it was a very good move.

[Zorro]

3. And we know how it will end if it gets challenged and ends up in the Supreme Court

[tableturner]

4. Even if allowed by the court, it may still be obstruction. You CAN commit a separate crime via

the pardon process......bribery by pardoning for money and many others. The crime would not be "pardoning". Pardoning would be the vehicle used to commit bribery. I could see how the pardon may stand in this circumstance, while at the same time, prosecutors could be successful with the bribery prosecution.

You CAN commit obstruction via the pardon.

Edited to add: I meant this to be a reply to Zorro's post.