: re: Why Trump’s Pardon of Arpaio Follows Law, Yet Challenges It

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Sun, Aug 27, 2017 at 7:20 AM
Subject: re: Why Trump’s Pardon of Arpaio Follows Law, Yet Challenges It
To: "letters@nytimes.com"

To the Editor:

     The president's pardon power is broad; it "extends to every offense known to the law". But wielding that broad power for corrupt ends could still constitute an impeachable offense. Obviously, Congress could detect an impeachable offense if e.g. the president were to advertise that felons could buy pardons from him/her for cash, or for sexual favors. Likewise, Congress could impeach the president if it could be shown that the pardon of Arpaio were intended as a signal to Mike Flynn and to Paul Manafort that they could get such pardons themselves if they defied Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquest. That would constitute 'witness tampering' and clearly fits among "high crimes and misdemeanors".

Barry Haskell Levine

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/26/us/politics/trump-pardon-joe-arpaio-constitution.html