Giuliani: Trump Doesn't Plan to Pardon Himself ... Yet

The presidential lawyer speaks out on ABC's 'This Week'
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 3, 2018 10:06 AM CDT
Giuliani: Trump Could 'Probably' Pardon Himself
In this May 5, 2018, file photo, Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks at the Iran Freedom Convention for Human Rights and democracy in Washington.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

"He's not, but he probably does." So said Rudy Giuliani on Sunday when asked whether President Trump has the power to pardon himself, Reuters reports. Appearing on ABC's This Week, Trump's lawyer clarified by saying that his client "has no intention of pardoning himself," then added that the US Constitution "doesn't say he can't." So will Trump sit down with Robert Mueller's team to answer questions about the special counsel's probe? "We’re leaning toward not," said Giuliani, per Politico. "But look, if they can convince 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 long nightmare for the American public over."

"We’ll say hey, you got everything you need, you got 1.4 million documents, you have 28 witnesses," he went on. "The president’s given every explanation and corrected some that were mis-impressions. You’ve got everything you need, what—what do you need us for?" Not everyone around the Sunday dial took the issue in a seemingly casual manner. Preet Bharara, former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on CNN's State of the Union that it would be "outrageous" and nearly a "self-executing impeachment" for Trump to pardon himself, the Hill reports. On the same show, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy addressed the self-pardon issue thusly, per the Hill: "The president is not saying he is going to pardon himself. The president never said he pardoned himself. I don't think a president should pardon themselves." (See how Trump's lawyers are arguing that it's impossible for him to obstruct justice.)

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