Pence as Jerry Ford
I believe that in the next few days, in the wake of the most harrowing day for America since the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, the negotiations will begin in earnest between and among Donald Trump, Trump family members, including Jared Kushner, and Vice President Mike Pence. The subject: Pardons for the departing president and his family members.
Yes, Donald Trump is an out-of-control, deranged narcissist who does not want to leave the White House. Yet now, however, he at long last knows that his presidency is over. With the imminent loss of presidential immunity, he now is terrified at the prospect of a federal tax indictment that will result in not only his imprisonment, but something he fears more: the financial downfall of the Trump empire.
While a presidential pardon would not absolve Trump of state offenses, it would shield him from prosecution on the dreaded federal tax charge. So a presidential pardon is a top priority for Donald Trump during his final days in the White House.
In Washington, even Republicans are frightened at the security risk Trump poses to our nation during the remaining two weeks of his presidency. The ideal solution would be for a 25th Amendment proceeding to remove him from the presidency on the basis of unfitness for office.
Such a proceeding can only take place if Pence leads the effort. This he will not do.
Mike Pence is a very ambitious man who, along with his wife, Karen harbors aspirations for the Oval Office. He knows that even in the aftermath of yesterday, the Trumpian wing of the party still is the largest faction in the GOP.
Pence further realizes that he would gain the undying enmity of Trumpists everywhere and forfeit any chance for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination if he led a 25th Amendment Trump removal effort.
There is no perfect analogy between Pence’s current situation and that of any prior vice president. The closest is that of Jerry Ford during the final days of the Nixon administration.
Although Jerry Ford did not have the driving ambition of a Mike Pence, he did intend to run for the presidency in 1976 once he replaced Spiro Agnew as Vice President in October, 1973. For that reason, he avoided being involved in the efforts of the then chief of staff Alexander Haig to get Nixon to resign during the final days of 1974.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the Nixon pardon did not doom Jerry Ford to defeat in 1976. He was running even or ahead of Jimmy Carter in the polls during the 1976 general election campaign until his monumental gaffe in the second debate regarding Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. Even after that gaffe, Ford came very close to defeating Carter.
So although Pence will be unwilling to spearhead a 25th Amendment effort, he will have no reluctance to become involved in a pardoning negotiation with Trump. In my column of yesterday (link at end of paragraph), I discussed pardoning issues and gave my predicted scenario as to how it will unfold. Due to the attempted insurrection of yesterday, however, I think that the timetable for a Trump departure will be accelerated. (https://www.insidernj.com/trump-denouement-georgia-hawley-pardons-pence-biden-harris-jersey-winners-losers/).
Mike Pence will go on to become the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. If nominated, he will have a good option for his running mate by picking Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming). As a result of yesterday’s events, however, it is doubtful that any Republican can be elected president during the next 25 years.
Let me be emphatic about this: I do not like the pardoning scenario I have related, and I am not promoting it.
NOBODY in New Jersey politics risked more and did more to combat Trumpism over the last five years than I did. I became a pariah among Republicans and a large segment of the political right wing of the Orthodox Jewish community for what I did. But my family stood by me, and I am proud of my actions.
I live in the real world, not the reel world. I oppose any pardon of Donald Trump. Yet I fully expect it as a matter of political reality.
Alan Steinberg served as Regional Administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of former President George W. Bush and as Executive Director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
……………………JUSTICE
Pence’s pardon of Trump will please Trump supporters, but it will
infuriate the 80 plus million who voted for Biden/ Harris.
It matters little how pleasant and pleasing, he and his wife “act”
at the inauguration. Anyone who supported and subserviently enabled
this mentally and morally unfit president is not worthy of my vote
or anyone’s vote.
These infuriated voters have lived through a never ending nightmare
for 4 years
THEY DO NOT WANT TRUMP PARDONED.
THEY DO NOT WANT REVENGE.
THEY WANT JUSTICE.
PS.. Liz Cheney is a Congresswoman of stature and character
Vice President for Pence..NO
If interested, she should be a presidential candidate
and restore some honor to the Republican Party.
.
PPS…Alan Steinberg….. Not only does your family love you,
the readers of Insider NJ think you are special, also.
As Alan points out, as a nation we are facing according to voting records 80 million voters for a Biden Presidency and 75 million voters for a Trump Presidency, many of whom for various reasons dispute those tallies, and because of the events that occurred last Wednesday, feel they were robbed of the last opportunity for publicly airing the evidence that had been compiled by the Trump Campaign, and the election boards and legislatures of the six swing states. Under those conditions of questions, rather than dismiss those concerns outright, i think it better to fully examine in the fullest of detail, probably through an Independent Commission, all possible concerns. There should also be a full investigation into the events leading up to and including all that transpired last Wednesday, especially what was clearly the question of how the preparation of security was handled. While the dust has not yet settled from last Wednesday, many would rush to all kinds of punishments that they in this moment would call Justice, but Justice fueled by Passion can end up far worse than in fact what solid deliberation demands. Under the passion of the 9/11 events, a most unpatriotic Patriot Act was passed, secret courts were established that have led to tainted warrants being issued against American Citizens of foreign descent and even members of Presidential Administrations based on false evidence, the government of Iraq was toppled based on “manufactured” evidence of WMD that even Nancy Pelosi admitted was known to be phony, and even “Legal Torture” occurred the report of which still has been denied to the American People. So rather than be so sure that “Justice” can and will prevail at this juncture, like any “Good” court case, let us gather all the evidence, sift through it to create an unassailable picture, and from that determine if in fact Justice can be found.