In what may be an American first, President Donald Trump pardoned a company sentenced to $100 million in fines for breaking money laundering laws.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/60270545

This is some serious unprecedented bullshit. Especially when their charge was money laundering. Basically he is making money laundering legal. Go ahead and break the law. Trump will pardon you…

  • mercano@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 days ago

    Can executive pardons get you out of a civil case, though? I thought it only excused you from criminal prosecution.

    • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
      2·
      2 days ago

      IANAL, but I assume lawyers are always looking for any precedent.

      If someone claims someone else scammed them (in a civil or criminal case), they’re going to appeal to past similar cases. The civil case might even depend on the outcome of a criminal case against the same person. If they’re actually found not-guilty in a criminal case, then a civil case probably isn’t going to go anywhere. So if trump can convince a civil class action lawsuit to settle because it looks like they won’t win, then he can just pocket the difference.

      All of this is my own conjecture as I see it, not to be considered factual.

      • mercano@lemmy.world
        3·
        2 days ago

        Counter example: OJ Simpson wasn’t convicted in criminal court, but he lost the civil case brought by the victims’ families. If I recall from Trump’s various cases, there’s actually a lower burden of proof on civil cases. For a criminal case, you need to be found guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt. In a civil case, it’s just a preponderance of the evidence. (More likely than not.)

        • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
          1·
          1 day ago

          Good example. Hard to say if any of this rational will ever apply, though. I just expect him to either ignore anything a court says, or push it to the supreme court where the president is above the law.