Spy suspicion – political scientist: ‘Trump can pardon himself’

Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, little will change in Trump’s pre-election popularity. Trump has a very devoted following of no more than 40 percent of the population. For Republicans, that is between 50 and 60 percent. This group cannot be convinced by rational arguments, Heinisch emphasizes in an interview with the “Kleine Zeitung”. For the other side, it is already clear that Trump is not up for election. The current allegations are likely to change only a few votes.

Fatal Document Affair
In total, Trump was charged with 37 counts in the documents affair last week. He is accused of illegally taking secret documents from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida at the end of his term in January 2021 and hiding them from authorities. He would also have shared the information with unauthorized persons. The secret documents include US nuclear weapons and military plans of the US and other countries.

Trump could also be pardoned by his internal party competitor Ron DeSantis if he wins the election over Joe Biden. “DeSantis does not want Trump as an enemy,” says the political scientist. There is a risk that Trump will run as an independent candidate. If that happens, the Republican electorate will split and that would be a super crisis for the party. In 1974, Republican President Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor Richard Nixon in the Watergate affair.

“Politically Motivated Persecution”
Trump repeatedly speaks of politically motivated persecution to harm his re-election. However, the government remains completely outside the matter, Heinisch emphasizes. Two buffer zones have been established between the chairman and the process. First, the Minister of Justice is already independent of the President. On the other hand, he also deployed special detective Jack Smith, who must be able to conduct these investigations independently.

Chests am At
In his defense, Trump emphasizes that Joe Biden and Mike Pence also had secret files. However, Heinisch points out that there is a significant difference in the charges against Trump. The charges were not filed for possession of the material, but for deliberately not disclosing the documents. Biden and Pence handed over these documents. Trump, on the other hand, had the files created on his property in Mar-a-Lago and also made them available to unauthorized persons. Moreover, after the request of the National Archives to release the documents, he deliberately kept the files hidden. This became apparent when the FBI found boxes near the restroom and other unusual locations.

The political scientist also warns of Republican attempts to weaken the Supreme Court and strengthen state courts. “These kinds of moves mean that liberal democracy is in crisis,” Heinisch said. At this point, however, the midterm elections have shown that Republicans can miss the mark with their radicalism. “You lose two steps, you gain one,” says Heinisch.