New furore as Trump hints at letting himself off the hook
Donald Trump asserted he has “complete power to pardon” as he attacked the multiplying investigations into potential links between his campaign and Russia during last year’s presidential election.
The US President’s intervention followed reports that he and his legal team had explored his authority to pardon assistants, family members and possibly even himself.
The President said there was currently no need to use the power, because nothing wrong had been done. But his comment set up the potential future prospect of a constitutional crisis as the idea of a president self-pardon has never been tested.
Trump wrote on Twitter: “While all agree the US president has the complete power to pardon, why think of that when only crime so far is LEAKS against us.”
That was a reference to the latest leak from US intelligence agencies suggesting Jeff Sessions, his embattled Attorney-General, discussed “substantive” issues with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign. Kislyak was recorded by US agents in 2016 telling colleagues in Moscow that he discussed with Sessions campaign- related matters, and prospects for US-Russia relations in a potential Trump Administration.
Their first encounter was in April 2016 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington before Trump’s first major foreign policy speech. The second was in July 2016 at the Republican national convention. At the time Sessions was a US senator and key foreign policy adviser to the candidate.
A US official said: “The question is whether he crossed the line and discussed classified information, or talked about deals like lifting sanctions if the Russians were interested in investing in the US, or had dirt on Secretary Clinton.” Sessions, America’s top prosecutor, has previously denied, and continues to deny, discussing campaign issues with Russian officials.
But in March he recused himself from an investigation being carried out by his own Justice Department into links between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump lashed out at Robert Mueller, the special counsel who is now investigating any links to Russia, calling on him to focus instead on Hillary Clinton’s email practices when she was US Secretary of State, and the conduct of James Comey, who Trump fired as FBI director. The President wrote on Twitter: “So many people are asking why isn’t the special counsel looking at the many Hillary Clinton or Comey crimes. 33,000 emails deleted...”
The revelation about Sessions capped one of the worst weeks of Trump’s presidency following the failure in the US Senate of his attempt to overhaul America’s healthcare system. A weeks-long impasse over imposing new financial sanctions on Iran and Russia broke, with the House preparing to vote this week on a bill that would prevent Trump from lifting measures against Moscow.
Trump has been seeking to turn a corner, appointing Anthony Scaramucci as new communications director. The Wall Street financier yesterday announced that he’s deleting old tweets, saying his own views have evolved and that what he said in the past shouldn’t be a distraction.
Social media users recirculated past tweets by Scaramucci that were at odds with Trump’s views, including one that praised Clinton’s competence. Other tweets expressed support for stronger gun laws and displeasure with people who believe climate change is a hoax. — Telegraph Group Ltd, Washington Post