With President Trump's chances of retaining office diminishing by the day, many have expressed concern that the final days of his term may see massive changes - from Presidential pardons to changes the firing and hiring of new people. And on Tuesday, a report suggested that some of the President's children may be on the list for a possible pardon. Note that they do not at present stand convicted of any specific crime.
In November, Trump had fired a top official from the Department of Homeland Security after the latter refused to support the President's claims of widespread voter fraud. Soon after this came his pardon of Michael T. Flynn who had pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI in connection with the Russian collusion investigation.
Reports from the last few days indicate that more pardons may be forthcoming, some more problematic than others. According to a New York Times report, the President is trying to ascertain whether it is possible to issue preemptive pardons to some of his children as well as his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his personal lawyer and former Mayor, Rudy Giuliani. According to the report, President Trump has discussed with advisers whether to grant pardons to Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, concerned that the Biden Justice Department might seek retribution against the president by targeting them. It is unclear what action they might be facing, or what potentially criminal act they might be accused of.
While such a pardon would be unusual, the President is within his rights to grant this. At the same time, it must be noted that a Presidential pardon does not provide protection against state or local crimes. A pardon for his lawyer Rudy Giuliani however can prompt allegations that the President is abusing his power to obstruct justice.
While the Trump Administration has not commented on the claims, Giuliani had taken to Twitter calling it fake news.
An explosive story indeed, but this is not what netizens seem to be focused on. No, Twitter is trending "Tiffany" with countless tweets about how she has been excluded from this list of potential pardon candidates. Others still want Melania and Barron to be added to the list.
"My first thought in reading the headline was "Poor Tiffany!" read one tweet.
"They’re gonna pin everything on Tiffany bless her heart," joked another.
Take a look at some of the comments:
