By Eli Watkins WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s new communications director and a member of his legal team said Sunday that Trump has no need to use his pardoning power as it relates to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.<\/b>
\nBy Eli Watkins
WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s new communications director and a member of his legal team said Sunday that Trump has no need to use his pardoning power as it relates to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
But, according to communications director Anthony Scaramucci, Trump has at least been mulling the power.
When asked on CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union\u201d who the President is considering pardoning, Scaramucci said \u201cnobody.\u201d
\u201cThe President is thinking about pardoning nobody, \u201d Scaramucci said. \u201cThe President is not going to have to pardon anybody because the Russian thing is a nonsensical thing.\u201d
But Scaramucci also said on \u201cFox News Sunday\u201d: \u201cI\u2019 m in the Oval Office with the President last week, we\u2019 re talking about that.\u201d
He continued: \u201cHe doesn\u2019 t have to be pardoned. There\u2019s nobody around him that has to be pardoned. He was just making a statement about the power of pardon.\u201d
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Trump had asked his legal team about the pardoning authority, and whether he could use it on himself.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted, \u201cWhile all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon, why think of that when only crime so far is LEAKS against us. FAKE NEWS\u201d
Jay Sekulow, a member of Trump\u2019s legal team, said on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week\u201d that there was no need for Trump to pardon anyone.
\u201cWe\u2019 re not researching the issue, because the issue of pardons is not on the table, \u201d Sekulow said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to pardon from.\u201d
But while Scaramucci said he spoke with Trump about pardons in the Oval Office last week, Sekulow repeatedly said there was no talk of pardons among the legal team.
\u201cPardons have not been discussed, \u201d Sekulow said. \u201cAnd pardons are not on the table.\u201d
Although the President\u2019s pardon power is broad, no one in the office has ever used it on himself, and whether Trump could do so successfully remains an open question.
Sekulow said if it ever happened, the courts would likely have to get involved.
\u201cWhether it would apply to the President himself, well, I think, ultimately, would be a matter for a court to decide, \u201d Sekulow said.<\/p>\n

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