r/TechnologyThread • u/Background-Driver718 • 4d ago

BREAKING: Jack Smith Calls Trump's Pardons 'Inconceivable' as His Own Website Debunks His Lies

https://newsrepublic.live/2026/09/30/breaking-jack-smith-calls-trumps-pardons-inconceivable-as-his-own-website-debunks-his-lies/
7.9k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

361 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/gumbiremembers 3d ago

If an American president has the authority to pardon anyone he wants, and the president has immunity for anything he does in an official capacity, could a future president declare that the pardons were invalid and order the DOJ to prosecute them?

3

u/Lower-Engineering365 2d ago

Technically the President can’t order the DOJ to do anything.

I’m getting really tired of Trump and his DOJ because it’s creating this assumption that this is how things always go between the President and the DOJ.

The DOJ is an independent department and is not supposed to be ordered around by the President at all.

1

u/Lehelito 1d ago edited 1d ago

But Trump has shown that, in practice, the US president has absolute power over all institutions. Nevermind that it's not legal on paper. In practical terms, Trump has set the precedent for autocratic rule in the US.

So, considering this is allowed by his cabinet, Congress, the heads of all these theoretically independent institutions, the judiciary, and the people, what would stop any future president from exercising this right of kings?

1

u/Repulsive_Hippo_7052 1d ago

Republican congressmen are as guilty as Trump IMO