Can Trump pardon himself even though he did criminal stuff outside of office?

You need to stop thinking laws are inviolable writ handed down from God. We're all playing a game of shared make believe where the rules are only strong as the collective will to enforce them. That will doesn't appear to be sufficient so he can likely do what he wants.

Bruh it won't matter.

Not only did we squarely place ourselves on the path of economic/social decline for the foreseeable future, but we also just guaranteed that Trump will not be held accountable for his crimes.

We have utterly failed as citizens in a democratic society.

Buckle up. It gets much, much worse from here.

He can obviously do whatever the fuck he wants. This unfortunately isn't even a reasonable question to be asking at this point.

Trump and his party are nazis. Nazis suck because they bring the law of the jungle into civilization.

The law of civilization is cooperation.

The law of the jungle is, can I physically do it.

Republicans basically exist to shout, burn their own house down (also yours), and celebrate. They're going to burn the checks and balances.

The Constitutional text is very broad:

The President ... shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

So it looks rather absolute, for Fedral crimes. However, the real situation is complicated. This is just one clause in the Constitution, while the President is supposed to be bound by all of it. So, presumably, he can't exercise his pardon power in a way that violates something else in the Constitution. If you go deeper into the Federalist papers, it's quite clear that the Founders held that no man should be his own judge, and a self-pardon effectively does just that.

Here is a good write-up, although I do note it was written before the Supreme Court put their thumb on the scale and said he could do whatever the hell he wanted, as long as he doesn't get impeached for it:

https://protectdemocracy.org/work/the-presidential-pardon-power-explained/

I expect him to do it anyway. It will be challenged, but courts will reject it due to "lack of standing" and sidestep the messy business of having to tell the King he went too far.

No president has tried it before. Whether he can get away with pardoning himself has yet to be seen. For him not to get away with it would require someone to bring some sort of court case challenging it. And to bring a case, they have to have "standing." (That is to say, they have to have some credible justification why the self-pardoning action the president took wronged the petitioner in some way.) Which would probably require some legal argument that has never been made before.

I'm guessing Trump probably could get away with it, but given that no president has tried this, we'll just have to see for sure.

For federal stuff, yes ... probably, it's never been tested, but the current SCOTUS won't stop him.

Not for state crimes. Like the 34 felony counts in NY. But enforcement of any sentence (probably financial) is unclear. Also unprecedented.

When he controls the Supreme Court... yes. He can pardon anyone for anything.

Prepare to see everyone involved in the most blatant act of open tyranny since the Civil War pardoned as soon as he takes office.

I dont think he needs to pardon himself.

He cannot pardon himself anyways for state crimes.

But what will happen is the judge would give a slap on the wrist sentence like a fine and call it a day.

Because the alternative is the judge giving a prison sentence and then the president goes "The NY Courts have made their decision, now let them enforce it" essentially creating a State vs Federal government political crisis.

Spoilers, the Federal government wins.

What if NY gonna do, send agents to somehow get past the SS to arrest the president?

If that was even attempted, the president would invoke insurrection act and arrest the governor/judge/ whoever gave the order for the arrest and flip the narrative, claiming the state officials are attempting a coup.

Theoretically, probably not, practically, and in real life, most probably definitely yes.

Yes, because he can do anything he wants and just declare legal.

There is no punishment for this supervillain. His cult makes sure of that.

he doesn't need to since he already has absolute legal immunity according to the Supreme Court.

The president is now absolutely immune from all legal prosecution as long as it pertains to a "official duty".

The constitution is vague enough about official presidential duties that the official duties of the president can literally be anything.

Trump, and future presidents, are functionally immune from any legal consequences for any actions they take.

Yes. Constitutionally, the threat of impeachment is supposed to prevent that.

I don't think so.

But if it's like any other norm-breaking violation we've seen him make, he will do it anyway, there will be legal challenges, they will ultimately be fruitless, he will suffer no consequences, and everyone will go along with it.

It's legally unclear if he's able to pardon himself for state crimes. He's the president of the United States, not the president of New York.

But I hope he tries to pardon himself for anything, just so we can get this before the Supreme Court, because I think they would side with him but I sure want to see it play out. In reality he's in such bad health and so old that I think he's probably going to die before he would face any prison time, so the best we can hope for is that the Supreme Court makes greater fools of themselves, or somehow miraculously surprises us and does the right thing, which I don't expect but you know it's theoretically possible.

yes

Don't know, but we're gonna find out. Exciting times. Oh, and get ready to pay 3x as much for your internet access, and to have all torrent sites nuked from orbit.