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throw0101d | on: DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data
> Is it true to say that in practise there are no laws here? If anyone in DOGE breaks the law, can't the President just issue a blanket pardon?

For federal laws, yes.

If you can find a state-level law that's been violated then he has no jurisdiction to pardeon.

Trump himself was charged at the state level twice (and already convicted once):

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosecution_of_Donald_Trump_in...

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_election_racketeering_...

See also the civil case against him for rape:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll_v._Donald_J._T...

roenxi | parent
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amanaplanacanal | root | parent | next
Unless you were in the courtroom and heard the evidence, you don't have enough information to have an opinion. The jury heard the evidence, and made their determination.
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grobbyy | root | parent | next
My experience is that for anyone sufficiently famous and polarizing, there are widespread false allegations. It's hard work to work from primary sources and sort fact from fiction.

It's impractical to check everything, do I tend to do deep dives spot checking a small number of things.

For readers, I'd suggest the same thing here. Disregard claims on the Internet, or even court rulings, and just look at primary evidence. Pick a small number of issues.

I make this statement generically, without prejudice to the outcome here.

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electrondood | root | parent
Here's a list of people who are both famous and polarizing, along with their number of credible claims of sexual assault.

1. Elon Musk - 1

2. Donald Trump - 26

3. Kanye West - 0 known

4. Greta Thunberg - 0 known

5. Joe Rogan - 0 known

6. Jordan Peterson - 0 known

7. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - 0 known

8. Andrew Tate - < 10

9. Vladimir Putin- 0 known

10. Mark Zuckerberg - 0 known

The idea that just being famous and polarizing attracts false allegations, is false.

roenxi | root | parent | next
I think your argument is spot on, but there is important context which can be revealed by doing the same list for assassination attempts. Trump is qualitatively different from these other people - it just isn't because he is famous and polarising.

And Vladamir Putin (0), seriously? Good luck to anyone who attempts to make a public accusation against him. There will be a fatal fall through a window in their future. He could have raped 200 women and nobody would say a thing.

Acrobatic_Road | root | parent
There is no incentive to make up allegations against most of those people. But if you make up a false allegation against a presidential candidate, it could cost him the election and move national politics in the direction you favor. How many allegations did Trump have against him before vs. after running for president?
nobankai | root | parent
There is no incentive to make up allegations, period. Lying about sexual assault in court is perjury and jeopardizes victims as much as the defendant.

The simpler correlation is that most of the people on that list respect the law and do not consider themselves beyond reproach. Mind you, Tate was fleeing Interpol on human trafficking charges when he was arrested. These men know what they did wrong which is why they lash out when accused instead of respecting due process.

Acrobatic_Road | root | parent
>There is no incentive to make up allegations, period.

That's obviously not true. For example, this woman confessed to making up an sexual assault allegation for political purposes:

>One of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s accusers admitted this week that she made up her lurid tale of a backseat car rape, saying it “was a tactic” to try to derail the judge’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/kavanaugh-accuser-admits-she-fabr...

https://globalnews.ca/news/4628088/brett-kavanaugh-rape-accu...

And we know that at up to 10% of rape accusations are provably false. The real number of fake accusations could well be higher.

https://archive.is/x0DEo#selection-915.19-919.1

>Lying about sexual assault in court is perjury and jeopardizes victims as much as the defendant.

So what? If I make up an allegation against you, there is little risk to me unless you can PROVE I lied. But if the "evidence" against you is just my word, what can you do with that to establish that I am lying?

| root | parent
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