Trump asserts all agree he has ‘complete power’ to pardon
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he has “complete power” to issue pardons, an assertion that comes amid investigations into Russian interference in last year’s presidential election. It was one of many topics that appeared to occupy Trump’s mind as the day broke.
On a day when most people are ready to forget about the issues that nagged them during the week, Trump revved up. In a flurry of 10 tweets, he commented about pardons, former presidential rival Hillary Clinton, son Donald Trump Jr, health care, the USS Gerald Ford, the attorney general and other issues.
Trump said in one of his tweets: “While 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.”
The Washington Post recently reported Trump has inquired about the authority he has as president to pardon aides, relatives or even himself in connection with the widening investigation into Russian interference in the election and whether any Trump associates were involved.
Trump has long criticized leaks of information about the investigation, and has urged authorities to prosecute leakers.
He maintains that no crimes have been committed.
One of Trump’s attorneys, Jay Sekulow, said the president has not discussed the issue of pardons with his outside legal team.
Next week, Trump Jr, White House adviser Jared Kushner and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort are scheduled to appear before Senate committees probing Russian meddling.
Trump defended his son in one of the tweets, saying he “openly gave his e-mails to the media & authorities whereas Crooked Hillary Clinton deleted (& acid washed) her 33,000 e-mails!”
Trump’s son has become a focus of the investigation after it was revealed that he, Kushner and Manafort met with Russian representatives at Trump Tower in June 2016. Trump Jr later released email exchanges concerning the meeting on Twitter.
The FBI investigated Clinton for using a private email server as secretary of state. She turned over thousands of pages of emails to the government, but deleted thousands of others that she said were personal or unrelated to her work as the nation’s top diplomat.
Trump also complained about a Washington Post report that the Russian ambassador to the US said he discussed election-related issues with Jeff Sessions when the men met during the 2016 presidential race. Sessions, now the attorney general, at the time was a senator and foreign policy adviser to Trump.