Republican senators warn Trump not to pardon himself: ‘I don't know why we're talking about this’
Senate Republicans on Monday warned President Donald Trump, with varying degrees of alarm, against entertaining the prospect of pardoning himself of any federal crime – once again forcing members of his own party into an uncomfortable position as the president openly pondered another controversial move in connection with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
In the past 24 hours, Trump and one of his attorneys, Rudy Giuliani, have argued that the president has expansive pardon powers but claimed he wouldn’t exercise that authority as Mr Trump again openly vented about the Russia probe. That right to pardon was “absolute,” Mr Trump insisted on Monday morning in a barrage of tweets centred on the special counsel investigation.
Nonetheless, those assertions from the president and his legal team gained little traction on Capitol Hill. Senator Susan Collins (Republican, Maine) noted constitutional scholars had reached varying conclusions on whether a president could pardon himself, but she added that were she advising Trump, she would urge him to “never say another word about Bob Mueller’s investigation until it’s complete”.
“There’s no doubt that the president is not above the law,” Ms Collins said Monday. “It would be a tremendous abuse of his authority if he were to do so, as well as remarkably unwise.”
Senator Jerry Moran (Republican, Kansas) stressed that the Constitution “doesn’t give carte blanche freedom to a president”. And Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (Republican, Iowa) who is leading his own investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, also took issue with Mr Trump’s claim about his pardon powers.
“If I were president and somebody, some lawyer told me that I could do that, I’d hire a new lawyer,” Mr Grassley told reporters.
The cycle that played out on Capitol Hill on Monday was similar to other instances when an increasingly combative Trump escalated his rhetoric against Mr Mueller’s investigation, which recently passed its one-year mark and has led to a handful of indictments of Trump associates. Senate Republicans have repeatedly been pressed on what they would do should Mr Trump try to fire the special counsel, for instance, but most of them have brushed off the matter and said the consequences of terminating Mr Mueller would be so severe Mr Trump would never do it.
On Monday, Senator Mike Rounds (Republican, South Dakota) gently remarked that while Mr Trump may have the authority to pardon himself “he’d be smarter than to exercise that”. Senator Bob Corker (Republican, Tennessee) said he couldn’t “imagine a president even bringing that up”.
“I don’t even want to get into that,” said Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah), one of Mr Trump’s most effusive congressional allies. “He does have the pardon power and I suspect that that’s something that will never be tested to begin with.”
And across the board, Senate Republicans said they would prefer Mr Trump to avoid discussing the issue altogether.
“He may be right from a strictly legal standpoint but I don’t think it’s helpful in terms of the conclusion of the investigation,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (Republican, Texas) said. “Frankly, I don’t think any of the investigations produced any evidence of any culpability on his part.”
But chatter about presidential pardons have picked up dramatically in recent days, as Mr Trump used his power to pardon conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza for a campaign finance law violation and publicly mulled other commutations and pardons.
The moves have been interpreted by some as a potential signal to associates ensnared in Mr Mueller’s investigation that Mr Trump could give them legal relief. As for pardoning himself, however, Senate Republicans advised Mr Trump to steer clear.
“Politically, it would be a disaster,” Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican, South Carolina) said. “I don’t know why we’re talking about this.”
Washington Post
