It seems that whenever President Trump has a bad idea, the opposition proposes something worse.
The president announced this week that he’d pardon political activist Dinesh D’Souza, who pleaded guilty in May 2014 to campaign finance violations. After accepting blame in court, he has since gone out of his way to turn himself into a martyr, an Obama-era political prisoner.
It’s a garbage call by the president, it’s politically motivated, and it’s all being done for an unrepentant admitted felon. And it’s not Trump’s first questionable pardon — don’t even get me started on the pardon of Joe Arpaio.
The only thing worse than the president issuing dodgy pardons would be for state officials to propose undermining the constitutional rule protecting citizens from being tried repeatedly for crimes for which they’ve already been convicted and/or acquitted.
Enter New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood.
“President Trump’s latest pardon makes crystal clear his willingness to use his pardon power to thwart the cause of justice, rather than advance it,” Underwood said in a statement Thursday.
The main purpose of her announcement is to reiterate her support for legislation that would enable state prosecutors to file state charges against the recipients of federal presidential pardons.
Underwood is following in the footsteps of her predecessor, disgraced accused sexual predator Eric Schneiderman, in trying to head off potential presidential pardons for former Trump capos, including one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
“By pardoning Dinesh D’Souza, President Trump is undermining the rule of law by pardoning a political supporter who is an unapologetic convicted felon. First it was Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Then it was Scooter Libby. Now it’s Dinesh D’Souza,” reads Underwood’s statement.
It adds [emphasis added], “We can’t afford to wait to see who will be next. Lawmakers must act now to close New York’s double jeopardy loophole and ensure that anyone who evades federal justice by virtue of a politically expedient pardon can be held accountable if they violate New York law.”
First, it’s wild that anti-Trumpism has evolved to the point where some of its subscribers are itching to throw out the Supreme Court-affirmed constitutional protections provided by the Fifth Amendment, which states that no person should “be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.”
Whatever ills Trump has brought upon America, they pale in comparison to officials who would characterize Americans’ civil rights as legal “loopholes.”
Second, let’s call this for what it is: An obvious attempt by prosecutors to manipulate legislation for political purposes. Underwood can couch her true goal in gentle terms, but a blind man can see through this. Her use of “double jeopardy loophole” is the giveaway.
Lastly, congratulations, you idiots. You’ve just provided the best evidence yet to back D’Souza’s conspiratorial on-again-off-again claims that his 2014 campaign finance violation conviction was politically motivated. The right-wing author himself has never provided proof that he was the victim of a political witch hunt. Hell, even D’Souza said at his sentencing that he had no evidence to show he was “selectively prosecuted.”
But now New York’s attorney general wants to eliminate double jeopardy protections for very specific persons with very specific political affiliations. If they are pardoned — apparently even if they’ve already served a federal sentence — she wants to be able to try them again until the charges finally stick.
