- One Senator, who wrote the law to prevent this from happening, said President Donald Trump could not stop New York prosecutors from pursuing him and his family even if he pardoned them.
- In October 2019, New York Senator Todd Kaminsky helped draft legislation that closed the state’s dual jeopardy loophole that prevented the state from pursuing cases that the president had pardoned.
- Trump and his organization are currently facing a A series of investigations In New York, the president is said to be considering pardoning his family and comrades.
- “We knew the president used the pardon power corruptly,” Kaminski told Insider. Trump’s 2017 pardon for Sheriff Joe Arbayo.
- He said: “If the president pardoned his family members for something he did in running the president’s business … that would be explicit in our law.”
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President Donald Trump cannot elude New York attorneys with self-pardon, according to the state senator who wrote the law to prevent such things from happening.
In October 2019, Senator Todd Kaminski helped pass legislation to shut down New York State A double risk vulnerability, that was Public Prosecution banned Who brought charges against those who avoided similar charges at the federal level due to a presidential pardon.
As the end of Trump’s presidency approaches, the president is reportedly considering pardoning him family, for him AssociatedAnd himself. Superiors Self can be forgiven, But it will only apply to federal crimes.
The face of Trump and his family a lot Lawsuits after leaving office, Many of them are in New York.
- Leticia James, state attorney general, is conducting an investigation into the Trump Organization’s financial transactions.
- Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., is investigating Trump and the Trump Organization on suspicion of their involvement in banking and insurance fraud.
Their legal experts He said That self-pardon by Trump would be a corrupt move. He was the president too Accused of using His pardon is corrupt in the past. Three weeks ago, he pardoned him Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI.
New York State Senator Todd Kaminsky speaks at the Capitol Building in Albany, New York, May 2019.
Tim Rosky / Associated Press
The closing of the state’s dual jeopardy loophole means that prosecutors can now indict anyone who issues the president pardon, said Kaminski, a former assistant attorney general in the East District of New York. All presidential pardons apply to federal cases.
“We learned that the president used the pardon power corruptly,” Kaminski told Insider. “He did that in a number of cases. The immediate question is, well, is there any way to seek justice in these cases?”
Kaminski cited heavy criticism Sheriff Joe Arbayo pardoned in August 2017, Which overturned Arpaio’s conviction of violating a court order to stop the racial profiling of Latinos.
“We realized that New York didn’t have that way down, almost because of a technical problem from the 1960s,” he said. “We thought New York was so important that one hand could not be tied behind her back, or hands behind her back.”
New York State has introduced its Double Risks Act In 1969 After a Supreme Court decision, it introduced the dual sovereignty of the states and the federal government, allowing prosecutors to pursue the same cases at the federal level. The Double Crime Act effectively protects people who have been tried on similar charges at the federal level.
“A person may not be tried separately for two crimes based on the same criminal act or treatment.” He said the law.
“The New York authorities will not stop at anything.”
Kaminski, while not providing any details, alluded to the existing lawsuits against the Trump Organization and its actions.
“If the president pardoned a member of his family for something he did in running the president’s business, or for something he did in the president’s campaign … that would explicitly enter into our law and lead to“ corrupt use of the power of pardon, ”Kamensky said.
Trump children are participating in the ongoing investigation. For example, Eric Trump, who oversees the Trump Organization, He was deposed on October 7, 2020 By the Office of Attorney General James.
In recent weeks, prosecutors have worked with Attorney General Vance as well He interviews employees of Deutsche Bank, the Trump Foundation banker, and Aon, The insurance company, according to New York times.
From back to front: Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Tiffany Trump, and Donald Trump Jr at the first presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 29, 2020.
Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images
The boss has it He expressed concern about the possibility of an indictment In New York after he left office on January 20.
“I heard that the same people who failed to get me to Washington sent every piece of information to New York so they could try to get me there,” he said last week.
New York authorities are making progress in their investigations, Although no indictments were issued.
Earlier this year, Vance He won a Supreme Court ruling That confirmed he could obtain Trump tax returns and other financial documents, and James He got settled Trump and his kids were forced to pay $ 2 million for violating charity laws.
Alan Dershowitz, the prominent attorney who defended Trump during his recent impeachment He said from the inside: “The New York authorities will not stop at anything to pursue him.”
What else could happen?
Trump first broadcast the idea of self-pardon in 2018. Twitter: “I have the absolute right to pardon myself.” Late month is also Retweeted a post That called him to pardon himself.
But on Tuesday, Attorney General James He said For Trump to choose another tactic, which is to step down before his term expires so that Vice President Mike Pence can take over the presidency and pardon him.
“I think he will step down at some point and allow the vice president to pardon him,” she said.
Trump doesn’t just have a legal problem in New York.
In Washington, D.C. and Maryland, Trump is accused of violating the bonus clause in the United States Constitution By holding official events on his property in 2017. No judgment has been issued in these cases.
The Washington, DC, attorney general has also charged Trump’s inaugural committee with Transferring money to the Trump family business.
Ivanka Trump is the president’s daughter He was deposed by the prosecutor’s office In Washington, D.C., on Dec. 1, as part of this investigation.
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