http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/donald-trump-pardon-himself-giuliani-russia-probe-mueller-1.4690400
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U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a bill signing ceremony at the White House on May 30. Trump says he has the 'absolute right to PARDON myself,' but that he has 'done nothing wrong' in the Russia probe. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
U.S. President Donald Trump declared Monday that he has the "absolute right" to pardon himself, but added he had done nothing wrong, asserting his presidential power as the White House sharpens its political and legal defences against the special counsel's Russia probe.
Trump's comments on Twitter came a day after attorney Rudy Giuliani played down the possibility that the president could pardon himself, suggesting he might have that authority but would be unwise to use it.
"Pardoning himself would be unthinkable and probably lead to immediate impeachment," Giuliani, a member of Trump's legal team, told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. "And he has no need to do it, he's done nothing wrong."
In Monday's tweet, the president said:
Trump's legal team is making clear that it will combat any effort to force the president to testify in front of a grand jury. Giuliani on Sunday underscored one of the main arguments in a newly unveiled letter sent by Trump's lawyers to Mueller back in January — that a president can't be given a grand jury subpoena as part of the investigation into foreign meddling in the 2016 election.
But Giuliani, in a series of television interviews, broke with one of their bolder arguments in the letter that a president could not have committed obstruction of justice because he has ultimate authority over any federal investigation.
Yet the former New York City mayor, who was not on the legal team when the Jan. 29 letter was written, added that Trump "probably does" have the power to pardon himself, an assertion challenged by legal scholars. He says the president's legal team hasn't discussed that option, which many observers believe could plunge the nation into a constitutional crisis.
Trump has issued two unrelated pardons in recent days and discussed others, a move that has been interpreted as a possible signal to allies ensnared in the Russia probe.
White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders partly echoed Trump and Giuliani on Monday when she told reporters the president wouldn't need a pardon because he "hasn't done anything wrong."
"Certainly no one is above the law," Sanders said.
But she also defended Trump's assertion that the special counsel investigation is unconstitutional, even though it is overseen by his administration's Justice Department.
Giuliani said Sunday that a decision about an interview would not be made until after Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore, and he cast doubt that it would occur at all.
In addition to the legal battles, Trump's team and allies have waged a public relations campaign against Mueller and the Justice Department to discredit the investigation and soften the impact of the special counsel's potential findings.
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Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani arrives at the White House in Washington on May 30. Guiliani said Sunday that Trump pardoning himself would 'probably lead to immediate impeachment.' (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
Giuliani said last week that the special counsel probe may be an "entirely illegitimate investigation" and need to be curtailed because, in his estimation, it was based on inappropriately obtained information from an informant and Comey's memos.
In reality, the FBI began a counterintelligence investigation in July 2016 to determine if Trump campaign associates were co-ordinating with Russia to tip the election. The investigation was opened after the hacking of Democratic emails that intelligence officials later formally attributed to Russia.
Trump's team has requested a briefing about the informant, but Giuliani said Sunday that the president would not order the Justice Department to comply because it would negatively affect public opinion.
But he continued to cast doubt on the special counsel's eventual findings, suggesting that Trump has already offered explanations for the matters being investigated and that the special counsel was biased against the president.
"For every one of these things he did, we can write out five reasons why he did it," Giuliani said. "If four of them are completely innocent and one of them is your assumption that it's a guilty motive, which [Trump] would deny, you can't possibly prosecute him."
Trump's legal team has long pushed the special counsel to narrow the scope of its interview. Giuliani also suggested that Trump's lawyers had been incorrect when they denied that the president was involved with the letter that offered an explanation for Donald Trump Jr.'s 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians who offered damaging information on Democrat Hillary Clinton.
"This is the reason you don't let the president testify," Giuliani told ABC. "Our recollection keeps changing, or we're not even asked a question and somebody makes an assumption."
If Trump does not consent to an interview, Mueller will have to decide whether to go forward with a historic grand jury subpoena. His team raised the possibility in March of subpoenaing the president, but it is not clear if it is still under active consideration.
A court battle is likely if Trump's team argues that the president can't be forced to answer questions or be charged with obstruction of justice.
President Bill Clinton was charged with obstruction in 1998 by the House of Representatives as part of his impeachment trial. And one of the articles of impeachment prepared against president Richard Nixon in 1974 was for obstruction.
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Special counsel Robert Mueller departs surrounded by police and security after briefing members of the U.S. Senate on his investigation on June 21, 2017. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)The U.S. Constitution is silent on the issue of whether the president's broad power to grant pardons extends to himself, and some lawyers say that supports Trump's position.
"If there are any limits on the power, it's got to be in the constitution," said Samuel Morison, a former lawyer with Justice Department office that handles pardons. "It's nowhere in the constitution."
But many legal experts disagree. Andrew Wright, a former associate counsel in the Obama White House, said allowing the president to pardon himself would be contrary to fundamental principles of the American legal system.
"One of the basic rules is that no man is a judge in his own case," said Wright, a professor at Savannah Law School.
Trump's tweet on Monday triggered swift political criticism.
"You can't pardon yourself," Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch said on Twitter. "Let me remind you of something, we don't live in a monarchy and you are not a king."
Trump claims 'absolute right' to pardon himself
Remark comes a day after president's top lawyer called self-pardon 'unthinkable'
Comments
Wil Brown
On the bright side, 46 will have to be an improvement. I don't think the Americans can set the bar any lower.
David Amos
@Wil Brown Methinks Canadian folks need to see it for what it is. Trump is not our leader Why not just sit back and enjoy the circus south of the 49th because there is nothing you can do about it anyway N'esy Pas?
David Amos
@Inas Johnson "This article is just more B.S. to keep all distracted and worked up over things that don't exist."
YUP
YUP
Jamie Robins
An innocent person does not talk about pardoning themselves.
David Amos
@Jamie Robins Methinks that is when he should say "pardon me" N'esy Pas?
Inas Johnson
@Jamie Robins
Still waiting for more than a nothing burger.
Still waiting for more than a nothing burger.
David Amos
@Inas Johnson Me Too
Gorden Feist
Years ago someone who was above the law was considered a dictator. Now the alt-right consider him a hero. Sad!
David Amos
@Jim Palmer Methinks you fail to see the humour in this nonsense N'esy Pas?
Anna Lyle
Good grief! This is further evidence of the mental health issues Trump obviously suffers from.
@Anna Lyle Methinks narcissism is not a mental health issue but believing in the words lawyers certainly should be N'esy Pas?
David Amos
@Inas Johnson "Stop and think. Try to read up and check all the other sides of the story"
Methinks you should do the same N'esy Pas? Instead of burying my comments why not Google the following?
Trump NAFTA FATCA Cohen David Amos
Methinks you should do the same N'esy Pas? Instead of burying my comments why not Google the following?
Trump NAFTA FATCA Cohen David Amos
Ken Simpson
Kim Jong-un and Trump should get alone great they are both crazy.
Jim Palmer
@Ken Simpson
Not just 'plain' crazy, but Bat$#!+ crazy !!!
Not just 'plain' crazy, but Bat$#!+ crazy !!!
David Amos
@Jim Palmer Methinks you are letting the Yankee circus upset you too much N'esy Pas?
Jamie Robins
Trump is actually making Bush look good!!
@Jamie Robins
Everyone supporting that comment of yours
*clearly* has no clue about G.W. Bush.
Trump hasn't caused *1/10th* of the harm that G.W. Bush has caused.
Everyone supporting that comment of yours
*clearly* has no clue about G.W. Bush.
Trump hasn't caused *1/10th* of the harm that G.W. Bush has caused.
@Lou Parks True
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Inas Johnson
@Jamie Robins
No. Your perception of reality vs fantasy is cracking.
No. Your perception of reality vs fantasy is cracking.
David Amos
@Inas Johnson Methinks you may enjoy my perception of reality after you read the comment section found in the link below published one year before Trump was elected N'esy Pas?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fundy-royal-riding-profile-1.3274276
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fundy-royal-riding-profile-1.3274276
Randy Ellis
No way Putin could have foreseen the wild success he's had in his bid to get a reality TV celebrity with zero political experience elected as President of the United States. Not even through the second year and already the guy is talking about pardoning himself, the country is a laughing stock and on the brink of a Constitutional Crisis.
Well played Vladimir, well played indeed.
Well played Vladimir, well played indeed.
Alexander Borgi
@Randy Ellis Sure, blame thew Russians, why not. America could never admit that they did this to themselves.
@Alexander Borgia Oh So True
Gorden Feist
The very rich and the very poor voted for Trump. One group lacks education and the other lacks a moral compass.
David Amos
@Gorden Feist Methinks the rich and the poor amongst the Yankee "peoplekind" had no other choice because "The Donald" was the lesser of two evils offered on their ballots N'esy Pas?
Syd Barret
Trump is doing his absolute best to look like a tin pot despot.
Theo Crane
@Syd Barret
At least he’s not hiding that he’s a tin pot despot at heart.
At least he’s not hiding that he’s a tin pot despot at heart.
Kevin Graves (AKA Jaspersdad)
@Theo Crane
"He tells it like it is."
"He tells it like it is."
David Amos
@Theo Crane Well put
Jed Took
the U.S. has become the laughing stock of the world...what a joke
David Amos
@Jed Took Methinks everybody loves a circus N'esy Pas?
Trump claims 'absolute right' to pardon himself
Remark comes a day after president's top lawyer called self-pardon 'unthinkable'
U.S. President Donald Trump declared Monday that he has the "absolute right" to pardon himself, but added he had done nothing wrong, asserting his presidential power as the White House sharpens its political and legal defences against the special counsel's Russia probe.
Trump's comments on Twitter came a day after attorney Rudy Giuliani played down the possibility that the president could pardon himself, suggesting he might have that authority but would be unwise to use it.
"Pardoning himself would be unthinkable and probably lead to immediate impeachment," Giuliani, a member of Trump's legal team, told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. "And he has no need to do it, he's done nothing wrong."
In Monday's tweet, the president said:
Trump's legal team is making clear that it will combat any effort to force the president to testify in front of a grand jury. Giuliani on Sunday underscored one of the main arguments in a newly unveiled letter sent by Trump's lawyers to Mueller back in January — that a president can't be given a grand jury subpoena as part of the investigation into foreign meddling in the 2016 election.
But Giuliani, in a series of television interviews, broke with one of their bolder arguments in the letter that a president could not have committed obstruction of justice because he has ultimate authority over any federal investigation.
Yet the former New York City mayor, who was not on the legal team when the Jan. 29 letter was written, added that Trump "probably does" have the power to pardon himself, an assertion challenged by legal scholars. He says the president's legal team hasn't discussed that option, which many observers believe could plunge the nation into a constitutional crisis.
We don't live in a monarchy and you are not a king.— Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch"I think the political ramifications would be tough," Giuliani told ABC's This Week. "Pardoning other people is one thing, pardoning yourself is tough."
Trump has issued two unrelated pardons in recent days and discussed others, a move that has been interpreted as a possible signal to allies ensnared in the Russia probe.
White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders partly echoed Trump and Giuliani on Monday when she told reporters the president wouldn't need a pardon because he "hasn't done anything wrong."
"Certainly no one is above the law," Sanders said.
But she also defended Trump's assertion that the special counsel investigation is unconstitutional, even though it is overseen by his administration's Justice Department.
No man is a judge in his own case.— Andrew Wright, Savannah Law SchoolMueller has requested an interview with the president to determine whether he had criminal intent to obstruct the investigation into his associates' possible links to Russia's election interference.
Giuliani said Sunday that a decision about an interview would not be made until after Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore, and he cast doubt that it would occur at all.
In addition to the legal battles, Trump's team and allies have waged a public relations campaign against Mueller and the Justice Department to discredit the investigation and soften the impact of the special counsel's potential findings.
Giuliani said last week that the special counsel probe may be an "entirely illegitimate investigation" and need to be curtailed because, in his estimation, it was based on inappropriately obtained information from an informant and Comey's memos.
In reality, the FBI began a counterintelligence investigation in July 2016 to determine if Trump campaign associates were co-ordinating with Russia to tip the election. The investigation was opened after the hacking of Democratic emails that intelligence officials later formally attributed to Russia.
Trump's team has requested a briefing about the informant, but Giuliani said Sunday that the president would not order the Justice Department to comply because it would negatively affect public opinion.
But he continued to cast doubt on the special counsel's eventual findings, suggesting that Trump has already offered explanations for the matters being investigated and that the special counsel was biased against the president.
"For every one of these things he did, we can write out five reasons why he did it," Giuliani said. "If four of them are completely innocent and one of them is your assumption that it's a guilty motive, which [Trump] would deny, you can't possibly prosecute him."
Trump's legal team has long pushed the special counsel to narrow the scope of its interview. Giuliani also suggested that Trump's lawyers had been incorrect when they denied that the president was involved with the letter that offered an explanation for Donald Trump Jr.'s 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians who offered damaging information on Democrat Hillary Clinton.
"This is the reason you don't let the president testify," Giuliani told ABC. "Our recollection keeps changing, or we're not even asked a question and somebody makes an assumption."
A court battle is likely if Trump's team argues that the president can't be forced to answer questions or be charged with obstruction of justice.
President Bill Clinton was charged with obstruction in 1998 by the House of Representatives as part of his impeachment trial. And one of the articles of impeachment prepared against president Richard Nixon in 1974 was for obstruction.
"If there are any limits on the power, it's got to be in the constitution," said Samuel Morison, a former lawyer with Justice Department office that handles pardons. "It's nowhere in the constitution."
But many legal experts disagree. Andrew Wright, a former associate counsel in the Obama White House, said allowing the president to pardon himself would be contrary to fundamental principles of the American legal system.
"One of the basic rules is that no man is a judge in his own case," said Wright, a professor at Savannah Law School.
Trump's tweet on Monday triggered swift political criticism.
"You can't pardon yourself," Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch said on Twitter. "Let me remind you of something, we don't live in a monarchy and you are not a king."