Even Rudy Giuliani thought her plan to seek blanket immunity, before breaching Georgia voting machines, was ā€œover the top,ā€ according to a new book by reporters Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman.

As allies of Donald Trump schemed to seize voting machines in swing states after the 2020 election, Sidney Powell proposed issuing preemptive pardonsā€”which the team described as ā€œhunting licensesā€ā€”to shield them from legal liability, according to a new book by investigative reporters Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman.

ā€œI need six to eight pardons,ā€ the former Trump attorney said in a Virginia planning meeting, according to Find Me the Votes, excerpts of which were reviewed by Vanity Fair ahead of its January 30 publication date. ā€œWhat we need is a ā€˜hunting licenseā€™ that provides top cover for ops,ā€ a member of Powellā€™s team wrote to Lin Wood, another Trump lawyer involved in the effort to overturn Joe Bidenā€™s 2020 victory, according to Isikoff and Klaidman.

According to Isikoff and Klaidman, the team asked Michael Trimarco, an associate of Rudy Giulianiā€™s, to get the former New York City mayor to approve the pardon proposal. But Giuliani ā€œdismissed the idea as over the top,ā€ according to the book. Trimarco apparently agreed, recalling that he thought, ā€œWhat the fuck?ā€ as the group mulled the idea.

  • Steve@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    None of that logic works.

    Random people canā€™t legally pardon anyone. Thatā€™s why they canā€™t pardon themselves.

    The President can legally pardon people accused of federal crimes. Itā€™s only common sense that stops one from pardoning themselves, not the law.

    • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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      6 months ago

      Iā€™m advocating for the meaning of words in the constitution meaning what theyā€™ve always meant. Thereā€™s no need or justification for inventing some new legal meaning for a word the authors of the Constitution didnā€™t see fit to define.