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Michael Cohen Says Donald Trump Has Pocket Pardons Ready & Timestamped To Avoid Prison
Although former President Donald Trump did not publicly issue himself a pardon, his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, believes that he did so behind closed doors. Donald Trump, as you stated, he s a clever son of a gun. And there s no way in the world that he s not going to take advantage of a get out of jail free card, he said to reporter Liz Hayes in a clip from a recent interview on
60 Minutes Australia. I wouldn t be shocked if he has pocket pardons, signed, sealed, delivered, timestamped. And in the event that they turned around and they come to take him, he ll be like, You cannot arrest me, you cannot incarcerate me, I have a pardon. Cohen suggested that the real estate mogul might have copies of the purported pardon with a lawyer or another trusted party.
Michael Cohen Says Donald Trump Issued Secret Pocket Pardons For Himself & His Kids What are we missing as Americans? And I kind of think I figured it out, he said. I think Donald Trump actually has given himself the pardon. I think he also has pocket pardons for his children and for Rudy [Giuliani] and it s already stashed somewhere that, if and when they do get indicted and that there s a criminal conviction, federal criminal conviction brought against him, he already has the pardons in hand. Cohen claimed that the U.S. Constitution does not stipulate that pardons have to be disclosed to the American public and press. The disbarred lawyer also argued that Trump does not respect the law and will do anything for his own benefit including using his purported pocket pardon.
Origin
Former U.S. President Donald Trump issued a slew of pardons to his allies and associates before leaving office on Jan. 20, 2021. None of those pardons included himself or his family members. However, some speculated that the beleaguered former commander-in-chief could take steps to protect himself, or those around him, by issuing
secret pardons, where he would not reveal who he had pardoned until later on.
It is possible for a president to issue secret pardons, but it has never been documented before, and legal experts frequently differ on how to interpret the validity of a secret pardon.
The clause in the Constitution granting presidential clemency power does not explicitly restrict the president from issuing secret pardons. It simply says, “he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”