pardons
    
    
    Where Things Stand: Even The Tiger King          
    This is your TPM afternoon briefing.  
  
      President Trump has been laying the groundwork for years at this point.
Even if he had won the election, he’d probably continue floating it — letting a potential Michael Flynn pardon swing in the breeze while he waits for the right moment to let it drop. Now we’ve reached an hour so ripe with presidential turmoil that he might as well fling a distraction at his base.