Many legal scholars myself included anticipated a self-pardon and feared the havoc it would wreak on constitutional accountability (others aren’t ruling out the possibility that he secretly self-pardoned). Given the longstanding yet legally fraught Department of Justice (DOJ) policy against indicting sitting presidents, a Trump self-pardon could have greenlighted federal crimes in the Oval Office with impunity. Ultimately, Trump decided not to manipulate the pardon power that way. Whether intentional or not, his forbearance was a gift to the Constitution.
In a possible nod to pragmatism, former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former Attorney General Bill Bar are said to have warned Trump not to pardon himself. Article II’s pardon clause is brief, affording the president “Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of impeachment.” A presidential pardon has no bearing on impeachment convictions and it cannot touch sta
Give Yourself a Break Today? Donald Trump and the Self‐Pardon SHARE
At least since June 2018, when President Trump tweeted about his “absolute right to PARDON myself,” it’s been a live possibility that our 45th president will do what no president even desperate, drunk Richard Nixon in his final days was crazy enough to do. And as the final hours of the Trump presidency tick by, we’re coming down to the wire.
Word is that Trump is set to issue anywhere from 60 to 100 clemency actions today, to a group that includes “white collar criminals, high‐profile rappers and others but as of now is not expected to include Trump himself.”
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Pardon-seekers and those lobbying on their behalf have reportedly paid allies of Trump tens of thousands of dollars to press the president to grant clemency. Everything is a transaction. He likes pardons because it is unilateral. And he likes doing favors for people he thinks will owe him, one source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The list of potential pardons, however, does not currently include Trump himself.
Trump has reportedly floated the idea of issuing pardons for himself and members of his family for months, while Democrats have long threatened to pursue investigations of the president s personal finances that could potentially lead to criminal charges once he leaves office.