re: #236 KGxvi

I’ve been wondering about that. What’s to stop Trump from getting a hold of the records from the plea negotiations and including those admitted crimes in a pardon?

Despite the rules we have in place, ultimately, the Justice Department answers to the president, and if he demands to see them, they’d probably have to turn them over.

My understanding is that he could then be charged with some of the state-law crimes that he admitted to, which would be outside the scope of Trump’s pardon power.