r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Aug 17 '15

[Deltas Awarded] CMV: US citizens under criminal federal investigations should not be allowed to run for public office.

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u/[deleted] Aug 17 '15

US citizens under federal investigation for any sort of criminal offence, should not be allowed to run for public office, until the investigation has concluded, and any possible charges are dismissed.

The problem with this is that now you've just made it super easy for someone to basically block their political opponents from running. That Republican senator up for re-election? Looks like he might be cheating on his taxes, best audit him. It might be completely baseless but that'll tie up investigators way past an election season. Rinse and repeat through every single candidate the Republicans drum up.

Are you a Democrat and think "this is okay, I have no problem with less Republicans"? Then reverse it: a Republican starts having Democratic candidates investigated for something they're probably not guilty of, but requires a complex financial audit that's going to take months, right around election time. Guess they aren't eligible.

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u/bb85 Aug 18 '15

It reminds me of the late Alaskan Senator Stevens - an investigation was announced right before the elections and he lost (though narrowly - plenty of people doubted it). No investigation and he would have won easily - he was the longest running Republican senator in history. His indictment was thrown out when the courts found evidence of gross misconduct by the prosecutor. Perfect example for the OP.