Arpaio Pardon Backfires On Trump As Top Judiciary Democrat Warns Of Disregard For The Law

The ranking Judiciary Committee Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) ripped Trump for disregarding the law with the pardon of Joe Arpaio.

Feinstein tweeted:

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Trump thought that he could use the storm to sneak the pardon past the country, but by announcing the pardon at a time when the nation’s attention is focused on the White House, Trump called more attention to an action that he was trying to keep secret.

Sen. Feinstein was correct. Trump doesn’t pay attention the laws or policy norms like a Justice Department review before presidential pardons are issued. It is deeply troubling that the President would test run his unilateral pardoning process on Arpaio. The lesson from the Arpaio pardon for Trump is that he could pardon himself, his friends, or his kids from Russia crimes and doesn’t need to follow the rules and norms of the pardoning process.

Trump managed to call national attention to his attitude of lawlessness because he tried to use a hurricane as political cover. The Arpaio pardon has gone wrong for Trump as a dirty deed that he was trying to hide has been exposed for the entire country to see.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association