https://apnews.com/article/tru...firefox-newtab-en-us As long as you are MAGA, you are above the law.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/0...czak-tax-crimes.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwynp1lw0l7o

The US has become a worldwide embarrassment under Trump.

You beat me to it.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...3914ecd54ef25&ei=104

I'm wondering why he favors crooks and kooks to pardon.

It shouldn’t be a surprised, donate a chunk of cash to trump and get made an ambassador or receive some other appointment when he is elected in return.

Apparently vocal support and publicity will get you a pardon.

I don’t know how else it can be perceived other than corruption … and this from the guy who vowed to drain the swamp.

Relax, all countries and their leaders do it, Trump is far from any exception
TDS RULES people to the point where they loose sense of reality and become hateful minds…not good for anyone

quote:

Originally posted by M.Shy:
Relax, all countries and their leaders do it, Trump is far from any exception
TDS RULES people to the point where they loose sense of reality and become hateful minds…not good for anyone

Wrong, as usual. Trump is a corrupt piece of shit, and cult members such as yourself support his corruption.

quote:

Originally posted by M.Shy:
Relax, all countries and their leaders do it, Trump is far from any exception
TDS RULES people to the point where they loose sense of reality and become hateful minds…not good for anyone

Im not aware that someone who pitches up to speak at a tory conference can get their family pardoned from jail time. We don't appoint ambassadors based on how much they have thrown in to the Labour Party funding, much less personal funding for the PM.

Every country doesn't do it, it's your swamp and Trump is busy enlarging it.

Maybe that's part of the problem, he gets away with it because you think it's SOP to be corrupt.

quote:

Originally posted by M.Shy:
Relax, all countries and their leaders do it, Trump is far from any exception
TDS RULES people to the point where they loose sense of reality and become hateful minds…not good for anyone

Make America great again. Drink the Kool-Aid.

quote:

Originally posted by M.Shy:
Relax, all countries and their leaders do it, Trump is far from any exception
TDS RULES people to the point where they loose sense of reality and become hateful minds…not good for anyone

Even if they did why does it make it acceptable here?

I feel that pardons are being over used by Trump in cases where a commutation is more appropriate.

We have all seen cases where the penalty is way in excess of what we think is reasonable- not saying this case is one as I don’t know enough of the particulars- but generally tax crimes tend to get big sentences in some and next to nothing on others. I thought this would be the Chesney case at first.

If they did what they did, and you think they were treated too harshly, commutation is the proper way to fix it.

And while I agree that political payola at some level is the norm in all societies, it doesn’t make it right.

What’s good for Biden is good for Trump. At least Trump signs them himself instead of having the auto pen go into overdrive.

Doesn’t make it right, but at least we know Trump both intended to do it and knew he was doing it.

quote:

And while I agree that political payola at some level is the norm in all societies, it doesn’t make it right.

It's corruption, it's wrong, and it isn't the norm. I can only speak for things this side of the pond. It's not the norm here, the PM doesn't hand out ambassadorships to political donors or pardon the families of party supporters.

Granted there have been cases of people not declaring things or fiddling expenses but when they are caught they face the consequences. It's not acceptable.

quote:

Originally posted by nute:

quote:

And while I agree that political payola at some level is the norm in all societies, it doesn’t make it right.

It's corruption, it's wrong, and it isn't the norm. I can only speak for things this side of the pond. It's not the norm here, the PM doesn't hand out ambassadorships to political donors or pardon the families of party supporters.

Granted there have been cases of people not declaring things or fiddling expenses but when they are caught they face the consequences. It's not acceptable.

It was not the norm here either before Trump, but the apologists will continue to make excuses for him.

Sorry Steve, but when was the last president who did not give an ambassadorship of some sort to a political donor?

I'm not cognisant enough of New Zealand politics, but I kind of suspect that there are honours and such that go to folks who support political parties and ex politicians.

With the arrival of the merchant class back in the middle ages, there has been a element of attempts to buy one's way into respectability. Most dislike it, everyone condemns it, but it is there... how much of it varies.

Its a norm in that it is universal and in all nations. It is not accepted in most advanced societies, even if it is present.

Trump is more open about it than most, although even he is unwilling to flat out say that it is OK... which says that it is not accepted.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Bertram:

quote:

Originally posted by nute:

quote:

And while I agree that political payola at some level is the norm in all societies, it doesn’t make it right.

It's corruption, it's wrong, and it isn't the norm. I can only speak for things this side of the pond. It's not the norm here, the PM doesn't hand out ambassadorships to political donors or pardon the families of party supporters.

Granted there have been cases of people not declaring things or fiddling expenses but when they are caught they face the consequences. It's not acceptable.

It was not the norm here either before Trump, but the apologists will continue to make excuses for him.

Diplomatic and other govt representatives roles are advertised and a board of department for foreign affairs staff decide whose names get put forward for the roles. There is also a requirement for the host country to agree too the appointment.
That then gos to the relevant govt minister, the governor general, and the prime minister for final clearance.

As far as corruption gos, we dont really tolerate it at government level, or any level really.

I would not be so naive as to think that it's not tried on. But if it's happening it's extremely circumspect. Its more likely to be happening at low level berocracy and commercial level than anywhere else.
https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022/index/nzl

Trump pardons more of his MAGA trash. https://www.usatoday.com/story...lemency/83913193007/

Now, he's pardoning murderers and drug dealers. I dunno....it's reached the point where it's ridiculous. He thinks he is King and can do any goddamn thing he wants. I get that he has pardon power. But, zero push-back from any republican on shit like this is pretty amazing.

>>>>President Donald Trump commuted the federal sentence of Larry Hoover, a Chicago gang leader who has been serving multiple life sentences for charges including murder, extortion and money laundering.

It's one of several actions announced by Trump announced Thursday, May 28 that also includes the pardon a former U.S. Army officer who was found guilty by a special court martial during the Biden administration for refusing to follow COVID-19 safety measures, a pair of reality television personalities and former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who resigned after being convicted of tax fraud.

Hoover led the Gangster Disciples and was convicted in a 1973 murder in Illinois, court documents say. While serving up to 200 years for the crime, he was convicted of several federal crimes associated with continuing to run the gang from prison, tacking on a life sentence in 1997.<<<<<

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tru...l?fr=sycsrp_catchall

Same idiocy, different day. Time for the TX Trumpiteers to tell us this just fine, every president does it. NO, THEY DON’T.

About the people trump pardoned, etc.

Who they are

Rapper Kentrell Gaulden, also known as “NBA YoungBoy,” will be pardoned for gun violations.

So much for the mantra of enforce the gun laws we have.

The court did uphold the gun law. They cant help it if he was pardoned.
I still want the laws in place, enforced by the court.

Now, he's entertaining the idea of pardoning this Diddy ass-clown in relation to sex-trafficking charges. He's lost his fucking mind.

50 Cent says he's going to stop it. Only in trump-world.

https://www.the-independent.co...pardon-b2761630.html

Apparently, there is a two-tiered system of justice in the United States.

Those that know and give money to trump...and, those that don't.

Disgraceful behavior on the part of trump. No surprise. He is single-handedly dismantling rule of law in the US.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tru...l?fr=sycsrp_catchall


At least he still will die in prison.

More on the Larry Hoover pardon...now, trump is trying to get the state charges dropped as well.

>>>>The case of Larry Hoover and the Gangster Disciples

Ron Safer, a former U.S. attorney in Chicago who helped prosecute members of the Gangster Disciples during the 1990s, said he was shocked and dismayed by Trump's decision to commute Hoover's sentence.

He pointed out that Hoover's gang was one of the largest and most violent drug syndicates in the U.S., operating in 35 states according to the U.S Justice Department. Hoover himself was convicted of state and federal charges including murder and use of a firearm while trafficking drugs.

"Larry Hoover was the head of perhaps the most pernicious, efficient drug operation in the United States," Safer said. "They sold over $100 million of drugs a year in the city of Chicago alone. They were responsible for countless murders. They supported their drug territories with ruthless violence."

Hoover was first incarcerated in 1973 after being convicted of murder. In the 1990s, he was convicted of federal charges linked to his role directing the Gangster Disciples.

Hoover is now expected to be transferred from a federal supermax prison to a state correctional facility in Illinois, where he'll remain behind bars, for now, because of the state-level murder conviction. Hoover has sought clemency from Illinois officials before, though his latest bid for parole was rejected overwhelmingly by a state review board in December 2022.

But a White House spokesman, commenting on background because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly, told NPR the Trump administration expects Illinois officials to follow the federal government's lead by freeing Hoover.<<<<

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/31...tes-the-u-s-drug-war

Fucking orange jesus. Law and order, huh…..

I keep looking for some sort of reporting about why Larry Hoover would even be on trump's radar screen for a pardon and I can't find anything.

There's got to be something. trump doesn't pardon people without some quid pro quo. And, Larry Hoover ain't a poster boy for a pardon.

The funny thing is the Regime is running around screaming about violent, drug gangs while pardoning a convicted violent, drug gang leader.

I guess domestic drug dealers are okay.

It's just the much fewer foreign drug dealers who are bad.

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
The funny thing is the Regime is running around screaming about violent, drug gangs while pardoning a convicted violent, drug gang leader.

Who's next? Pablo Escobar? Seems logical in trump world.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Mitchell:
Apparently, there is a two-tiered system of justice in the United States.

Those that know and give money to trump...and, those that don't.

Disgraceful behavior on the part of trump. No surprise. He is single-handedly dismantling rule of law in the US.

Your self righteous indignation is noted!

Who has EVER heard of preemptive pardons until your party????

Who was using the "auto pen"????

I know, I know........liberal (senile) privilege......


.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Mitchell:
Apparently, there is a two-tiered system of justice in the United States.

Those that know and give money to trump...and, those that don't.

Disgraceful behavior on the part of trump. No surprise. He is single-handedly dismantling rule of law in the US.

Your self righteous indignation is noted!

Who has EVER heard of preemptive pardons until your party????

Who was using the "auto pen"????

I know, I know........liberal (senile) privilege......


.

Whoever has heard of a draft dodging coward leading America?

Whoever has heard of a felon being American leader?

Whoever has heard of a multi bankrupt crook leading the American economy?