The writer of the letter “Affordability and accountability” (March 18, TribLive) has a selective and partisan memory. He remembers and opines about Trump’s former actions; the pardoning of those jailed for their parts in the January 2021 “insurrection” and the dropped case of the supposed stealing of government classified documents.
His partisan memory fails to include the 300-plus emails purposely destroyed by Hillary Clinton’s team held on her private server. She essentially was given amnesty by FBI Director James Comey and the investigation came to an abrupt halt three weeks after the emails were subpoenaed.
Then there is the discovery of classified documents in the garage and Corvette of former Vice President Joe Biden. There was little followup to this in the media, and he was essentially given a pass.
Lastly, as presidential pardoning goes, it seems this is a problem not only for Trump, but for many presidents before him dating back to George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. More recent examples include Bill Clinton and Biden. This is documented well in Saikrishna Bangalore Prakash’s book “The Presidential Pardon: The Short Clause with a Long, Troubled History.”
I’ll end with a Japanese proverb: “Truth hurts, but it’s the only remedy.”
On another note, I want to commend Lori Falce for her magnificent exploration of the amendments to the Constitution and how they have affected lives. The latest, “Pleading the Fifth” (April 11, TribLive), lends much needed context to the phrase applied in court to witnesses who choose not to testify against themselves. I look forward to your explanation on the next amendments.
Tim McGuire
Hempfield