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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > What can Trump do if Obama Pardons Hillary?
 
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LITERALLY MY FETISH
Nov 11, 2010


Raise Chris Coons' taxes so that we can have Medicare for All.

mugrim posted:

The basic punishment for evading FOIA at this point is kind of up in the air as few people are ever even attempted with it, especially on the federal level, and it's effectively a civil law not criminal. However, failure to turn over the records as required initially could still be prosecuted, though nothing real would ever come of it. The best case scenario is they'd lose and pay some lovely fine or something but it's basically uncharted territories because eventually you get the material, but in theory you can still go for it if you prove intent.

So it's irrelevant by your own admission. Got it.

* # ¿ Nov 27, 2016 11:42
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# ¿ May 22, 2024 14:57
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LITERALLY MY FETISH
Nov 11, 2010


Raise Chris Coons' taxes so that we can have Medicare for All.

mugrim posted:

I don't think being prosecuted would mean irrelevant, especially to Trumps supporters. Merely having a trial and hearings might sate them.


That email exists without the intent to avoid questioning part but if you questioned the recipients you could potentially get someone to flip as to why they stated that at all (several emails are out there where people point out to her that while her server is down all her emails are subject to FOIA). The standard for FOIA isn't trying to evade a single question, but rather trying to purposefully evade or obstruct current or future requests which anyone who's not an idiot knows that's exactly why she did it. She wanted to run for president and didn't want her office emails public. Not only did Clinton send out multiple emails to her employees telling them it's a crime to state department work with a private email address in part to FOIA (showing she understood the law) her staff sent multiple emails to her reminding her whenever she used a state department email (because her private server crashed a few times) to not forget it'd be subject to FOIA. This ENTIRE bullshit scandal happened because she was sent a FOIA request over the Benghazi nonsense and she couldn't produce anything within a reasonable timeframe.

There's emails where people casually remind her that she's subject to FOIA when she uses her state department email. The idea she didn't know what she was doing is absurd, and while she'd probably not have any kind of actual punishment the trial alone would be awful for her.

Personally, killing private emails for the SoS (or any government official) as a practice would be stellar in my eyes.

I agree that no pardon will be given, but without a pardon it leaves this whole thing on the table. I mean, name one reason it's not in Trump's interest to do it? He doesn't have to pay for it. I doubt the Democrats give a gently caress about her enough anymore to throw hissy fits. What does he lose? He definitely gains a lot.

You can say poo poo like "anyone who's not an idiot knows that's exactly why she did it" but the problem is that you have to prove it. Do you really think the FBI didn't think of any of this poo poo already? Do you really think everyone who had a hand in this investigation, every single one of them, was that much stupider than you? They can't do anything about it because hand wringing about what she knew is a good way to waste everyone's time and not prove poo poo. Once you're in hearings the thing is out of your hands and now you have to actually prove the poo poo you're accusing someone of, and no one in the GOP actually wants to bother with that because they already got what they wanted out of it. Better to look magnanimous in victory than open that pandora's box. This is what it means when people say it's irrelevant. Whether she did it or not and what she really understood is moot, and if you think Trump wants to prosecute over it, remember how hard he turned from "Hillary is a criminal" to "Hillary has done a lot of work for this country and should be applauded for that." It was a campaign strategy that worked, nothing more.

Although, after all of this, I think the more prudent people in Washington will move their poo poo back to government servers so they can avoid this happening to them when it's time for them to run for office again. No matter what happens with Hillary, the message is pretty clear that doing the private server thing is a good way to lose an election.

* # ¿ Nov 27, 2016 19:22
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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > What can Trump do if Obama Pardons Hillary?