Posted on 01/17/2017 9:36:46 PM PST by Pilsner
How could John Kerry pardon Hillary Clinton? After all, it is the President of the United States, not the Secretary of State, who is empowered by the Constitution to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. Art. II, Section 2, United States Constitution. Secretary of State John Kerry will not be President of the United States on Friday, so how could he pardon Hillary Clinton?
The incumbent Presidents term expires, and Donald Trumps Presidency begins, at noon, on January 20th. XXth Amendment, Section 1, United States Constitution. But Donald Trump will not enter on the Execution of his Office until he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Art. II, Section 1, United States Constitution.
Who is President during the interval between noon and the completion of the oath? In a monarchy the period between the death of one monarch, and the crowning of a successor, is an interregnum or interval between reigns, and technically the land is without a government during that time. In the nuclear age, the Constitution was amended to exclude the possibility of an interregnum, and insure that there will always be an acting President. When the a new term begins without a qualified President, the Vice President elect is first in line: if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified .XXth Amendment, Section 3, United States Constitution. Of course Mike Pence will not take the oath of office as Vice President until Donald Trump has taken the oath as President, so he will not be the acting President during the interval. On its face it might appear that the XXth Amendment authorizes the Vice President elect to act as President automatically, but all executive officers of the United States must first take an oath to support the Constitution. Art. VI, United States Constitution.
During that interval between noon and when Donald Trump takes the oath and qualifies as President, the Constitution provides that Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, XXth Amendment, Section 3, United States Constitution. Congress has so provided by that the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress, act as President. 3 U.S. Code § 19(a)(1). Of course Speaker Ryan will not have resigned his Speakership, and from Congress, and taken the Presidential oath before Donald Trump takes the oath. Next up, the President pro tempore of the Senate, who shall, upon his resignation as President pro tempore and as Senator, act as President. 3 U.S. Code § 19(b). Orrin Hatch isnt quitting his day job, and rattling off the Presidential oath at breakneck speed just to be acting President for a few seconds.
So, with the incumbent term expired, neither the President elect, nor the Vice President elect, having qualified by taking their respective oaths of office, and neither the Speaker of the House of Representatives, nor the President pro tempore of the Senate, having become acting President by resigning, and taking the Presidential oath, Congress has provided that the officer of the United States who is highest on the following list, and who is not under disability to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President shall act as President: Secretary of State, 3 U.S. Code § 19(d)(1).
Cabinet officers appointed by the President do not serve fixed terms, but at the pleasure of the President. When one presidential term expires, cabinet officers remain in office until they resign, or are fired.. There is no need to renominate them if the President elect wants them to remain in office -- they remain in officer during the new term, until resigning or being fired.
Donald Trump has nominated Rex Tillerson to replace John Kerry as Secretary of State, but that nomination is not expected to even be voted on until next week. President Donald Trump may of course fire John Kerry, but President elect Donald Trump has no formal power over John Kerry, either before the incumbent Presidents term expires, or during the term to which Trump was elected, until Trump qualifies by taking the Presidential oath.
During that interval, between noon, and when Donald Trump completes the Presidential oath, John Kerry shall act as President(3 U.S. Code § 19(d)(1).) and may bestow a Presidential pardon on Hillary Clinton, or anyone else he pleases.
Do I expect him to? Of course not. But the past year has seen a number of significant political events that I did not expect.
Something is wrong with you.
If Obama isn’t going to pardon the corrupt witch, then it ain’t happenin’
You need a different hobby. Making up stuff isn’t your forte.
Trump becomes President at the same instant that Obama ceases to be President. At noon.
The Left:
Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please...
the Right:
Hell NO!
The outside oath izs just for show. When they are inside, the CJ administers the oath BEFORE they exit. When you see them come out the doors, Trump will already be POTUS!..........
A President does not enter on the Execution of his Office until he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Art. II, Section 1, United States Constitution.
He could work for CNN!.............
Even if it may be argued that you are technically right, the argument is too convoluded and obscure for most people to follow; if Kerry acted on this argument, it would undermine himself and Hillary in most people’s minds—which would be fine by me. As well, an argument may be made in the other direction—which might very well prevail in the courts.
This is real black helicopter sh!t. Tin foil anyone?
I would think they would have to specify what she is being pardoned for if a pardon is given. I also do not see how anyone can be granted a pardon when no formal finding of guilt has occurred or even any official charges of a crime have been filed. Even so I think the list of her crimes is so vast that they would never be able to list them all and when in office and given full access to records who knows how many other crimes may be discovered. I think she messed up big time too. I think Trump would have let her slide if she had accepted defeat gracefully but since she just could not bring herself to do that I think he will be asking Sessions for regular updates on his progress on putting her away.
Methinks Pilsner should maybe switch to lager.
Or Shirley Temples.
Well, I am a lawyer. ; )
I didn't say it would be a good idea -- just that he could.
There is never a nanosecond when there is not a current president you idiot.
Nixon was pardoned.
people are losing it.
Nixon received a full, general pardon, for all crimes, known, or unknown, committed while in office:
Now, THEREFORE, I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.
I usually don’t LOL, but that made me LOL!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.