A day after his administration and his legal team made a sweeping case about his executive powers Trump declared he has power to pardon himself
WASHINGTON, U. S. – A day after his administration and his legal team made a sweeping case in the media, touting the U. S. President Donald Trump’s executive power – which gives him absolute authority to pardon himself from the Russia collusion probe – the President repeated the statement.
On Monday, taking to Twitter, Trump made his assertion, claiming he has the “absolute” power to pardon himself.
He then asked rhetorically why he would ever need to use his power since he hasn’t done anything wrong.
Trump wrote on Twitter, “As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!”
While Trump did not elaborate about the legal basis for his claim, he wrote in a second tweet, “The appointment of the Special Councel is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Despite that, we play the game because I, unlike the Democrats, have done nothing wrong!”
Robert Mueller was appointed as the Special Counsel in the Department of Justice-led Russia collusion case after Trump fired the former FBI Director James Comey, who was previously leading the probe.
Mueller is now investigating not just Russia’s role in the 2016 election, but also whether Trump obstructed justice.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller after the Attorney General and close Trump aide Jeff Sessions recused himself from the probe – a decision that has irked Trump, who considers it ultimate disloyalty by Sessions.
Last year, for several months after Mueller’s appointment, Trump avoided directly challenging the special counsel.
At the time, his lawyers argued that the best way to bring the probe to an end was to cooperate fully and avoid public criticism.
However, following Trump’s decision to overhaul his legal team in the last few months, his strategy has taken a drastic U-turn.
Trump’s new legal team head, Rudy Giuliani has admitted in the last few weeks that the team is now focussed on delegitimizing Mueller’s probe in the minds of voters and lawmakers.
Meanwhile, Trump’s claim made on Monday came immediately after Giuliani said in an interview with ABC on Sunday that while Trump had “no intention” of a self-pardon, the president “probably does” have the ability to pardon himself.
The former New York City mayor said in a separate interview that any such move by Trump would be “unthinkable” and might lead to impeachment.
Giuliani added, “He has no intention of pardoning himself, but he probably — not to say he can’t. I think the political ramifications would be tough. Pardoning other people is one thing, pardoning yourself is tough.”
He said, “Pardoning himself would be unthinkable and probably lead to immediate impeachment. And he has no need to do it, he’s done nothing wrong.”
Giuliani was responding to a report published by the New York Times, in which details of a letter addressed to Mueller by Trump’s lawyers were made public.
Trump’s legal team explained in the letter to Mueller that the President’s possession of absolute powers meant that he could not have obstructed justice in any case.
The letter was dated January 29 and was sent to Mueller by Trump’s former top lawyer, John Dowd, who has since quit the President’s legal team.
The letter, which was published in full, appeared to be an attempt by Trump’s lawyers to show the president as untouchable.
It reportedly stressed that because the president is the nation’s chief legal officer, he cannot be subpoenaed, cannot be indicted and cannot be guilty of obstruction of justice because, given his absolute powers, that would effectively mean obstructing himself.
Further, citing the powers given to him by the Constitution, the letter pointed out that the president can “terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon.”
The letter noted, “It remains our position that the President’s actions here, by virtue of his position as the chief law enforcement officer, could neither constitutionally nor legally constitute obstruction because that would amount to him obstructing himself, and that he could if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon if he so desired.”
Commenting on the leaked letter, Trump took to Twitter on Sunday and said, “There was No Collusion with Russia (except by the Democrats). When will this very expensive Witch Hunt Hoax ever end? So bad for our Country. Is the Special Counsel/Justice Department leaking my lawyers letters to the Fake News Media? Should be looking at Dems corruption instead?”
Meanwhile, Giuliani added in his weekend media rounds that a decision on whether the president will voluntarily sit for an interview with Mueller’s team would not be made until after a planned June 12 summit in Singapore between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Giuliani added, “We’re leaning toward not doing it. But look, if they can convince us that it will be brief, it would be to the point, there were five or six points they have to clarify, and with that, we can get this – this long nightmare for the – for the American public over.”
However, on Monday, following Trump’s tweets, analysts noted that the statement by the President raises the prospect that Trump might try to test the limits of his pardon power if Mueller tried to indict him for obstruction of justice in the case.
