Tragicomic nightmare scenario: Trump loses, is denied bail, is elected

How would all this even work? I guess he could be sworn in while in prison--possible, from a practical standpoint, anyway--and then he would get access to advisors, the nuclear football, all the trappings and accoutrements? Whoever is running the prison could refuse to grant such extraordinary privileges--but then, since it would be a federal prison, wouldn't Trump be the warden's boss?

Obviously, the first thing he'd do is pardon himself--or try to. Can a presidential pardon be challenged? If so, by whom? Could a court--up to the Supreme Court--stop it preemptively...and would they?

I assume, though, that he wouldn't be able to pardon himself for state crimes, only federal...right? And if he was in a state prison, only the governor of that state could pardon him...right?

So maybe the thing to concentrate on is getting his ass in the clink in New York, or maybe Georgia. NOW we have to ask ourselves...could a state send an extradition request to the District of Columbia--or to Florida, another place an elected Turd might be hiding? What powers would an elected president have to evade such actions?

Too complex and certainly unprecedented. We definitely should just put a bullet in his head, or contact poison in his diaper.

He wouldn't be able to self pardon.  A pardon was intended as something a president could grant to another...not himself.  State governors can not pardon Federal crimes, just those at the state level, as you infer from your third paragraph. 

As to the Federal Crimes, if he did a self-pardon it would be up to the Supreme Court to sort it out. Given the current make-up of the court I'd say it is likely they would let it fly.  As an alternative, Trump could win and then resign which would make his vice-president president. That person could then make Trump their vice-president.  Then they would pardon Trump and resign themselves making Trump president again.

One issue this brings up is that in the Federal system accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt. If Trump is pardoned he is agreeing, yes I committed 91 felony offenses. We will likely have Democrats in control of the House regardless if Trump wins. At that point he will be impeached for the 3rd time.  If you don't impeach a guy that admits he attempted to overthrow the government, pilfered classified documents and then refused to give them back when caught a future President could commit any crime they want while in office because the bar for impeachment would be so high.

Oh, I agree, the power of a presidential pardon was never meant to be self-applied--but the writers of the Constitution never imagined such a scenario. Has any court in the land ever explicitly said that a self-pardon wouldn't be valid? And who would or could object? (I would suspect, by the way, that any citizen could file a brief with the relevant district court--but I'm unaware of any case law re a citizen objecting to an executive pardon.)

So let's say that Trump's in federal prison for a federal crime, and he's elected and duly inaugurated (however that would be managed). Now, he says, "I hereby pardon myself, you have to let me go now." Can anybody--again, in a federal facility--object and refuse to release him? He's their boss, after all.

I don't know the relative power, timing, likelihood of conviction, appeals, etc. of the federal as opposed to the state charges Trump is facing, but it seems like the most foolproof ones are the state indictments.

Mark, if Trump were elected in 2024, took office in 2025 and then resigned, he would not be president again if the VP, who ascended to presidency, pardoned him and then resigned.  At the point he resigned, his second term would officially end, and he would not be able to, according to the constitution, and the 22nd amendment.  Of course he would try to find some loop hole, but I don't see the Supreme Court spitting on the Constitution to appease him, especially if he's been indicted on 91 felony charges. 

I guess if Trump really pushed it, he might be able to self pardon, but when you look at what pardon means and that the latin root for pardon is donare, which means to "donate", a case can be made that a president can't "donate to themselves", or pardon themselves.  Pretty sure a lawyer can work this out.  Likewise, would be interesting to see how many governors have self-pardoned themselves in the past.  If anyone finds out how many times that's happened, please enlighten us.

Again, a grant is something that is bestowed upon someone else, and thus, can't be given to oneself.  Any other use of this, by Trump, or anyone else, to attempt to self pardon seems unethical, and is why it hasn't happened....yet. 

Of course, ethical boundaries don't exist for the Turd, and he's explicitly said that he thinks that a President can do literally anything he wants, so there are no barriers for him in that regard. As to ruining his reputation: that ship has sailed, long, long ago, except for the Hitler Youth who would follow him over a cliff.

The legal question appears to be: who would have "standing" to challenge Trump's self-pardon in court? A person bringing suit has to have been demonstrably harmed in some way by the defendant's action(s). That may be hard to prove.

I also wonder whether Trump's jailers would respect his self-pardon. Would they have to obey an executive order to free him? Or could they decide that an inmate cannot free himself?

Again, let's just shoot the motherfucker.

The loop hole is that the 22nd says "elected".  If Trump succeeded his own VP, he wouldn't have been elected more than two terms.

Fortunately, the Constitution imposes no limitations on assassination attempts.

How does that even work?  If Trump resigns, his VP becomes President.  We can agree on this.  So who is the next VP?  Not sure he gets to come back after his resignation, which is basically like quitting.  Now if he is infirmed or incapacited and can't assume the duties of President, the 25th amendment calls for the VP to take over as President until such time as the President is well enough to assume his position again. 

I guess Trump could resign, name himself VP and then after some time the VP resigns and Trump becomes President again.  Pretty sure Congress is involved with this and not sure they would want to spit all over the Constitution for the Circus that is Trump.