aggiehawg said:
Tibbers said:
Right but nothing will come of this instance. It rips the band aid off the precedent that presidents can't ever be charged regardless of wrongdoing. That's the point.
That only applied to sitting Presidents. Impeachment and removal are the Constitutionally mandated for a President who has committed a crime. After they are no longer in office, they can be prosecuted. Hence why Ford pardoned Nixon to head this type of crisis off at the pass.
I dont think many, including you Hawg, agree with me on this, but the FPOTUS cannot be prosecuted for crimes allegedly committed whilst POTUS. This particular case alleges to have occurred post Jan 20, 2021 so that's not applicable here.
But Nixon likely could NOT have been charged, tried nor convicted by any other means other than impeachment. That's not a proven concept and it presents such significant issues regarding POTUS powers and immunities that Ford decided, quite rightly, to pardon to put an end to it.
POTUS has complete, absolute immunity as long as he believes he is acting in accordance with his oath of office. A subsequent DOJ has no right nor authority to go back and question those actions or decisions. Congress does through impeachment, but the Executive Branch is not supposed to prosecute / persecute former Executive Branches. To do so GREATLY undermines our current government construct.