I BEG YOUR PARDON?
President says he has ‘complete power’ to grant amnesty over Russia election hacking probe
DONALD Trump has claimed he has “complete power” to pardon any criminal he likes.
His outburst came after reports that he had discussed pardoning any White House aides found to have conspired with Russia to meddle in last year’s presidential election.
It’s claimed Trump has even considered pardoning himself.
Trump denied that at the weekend as he fired back at his critics and lashed out over leaks to the press in a storm of angry tweets.
He wrote: “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. FAKE NEWS.”
Special prosecutor Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump allies colluded with Russian hackers trying to sway the election. If he finds they did, it could end the bigmouthed tycoon’s presidency.
The president has extensive powers to issue pardons but legal experts doubt that Trump could give one to himself.
Richard Nixon considered such a move during the Watergate scandal but decided against it. If Trump tried it, the Supreme Court would probably have to rule on the issue.
One of the private legal team Trump has hired to defend him over Russia insisted they had never talked about pardons.
Jay Sekulow said: “We’re not researching it because it’s not an issue. There’s nothing to pardon.”
Trump’s tweetstorm also touched on the problems of his attorney general, Jeff Sessions.
Sessions is in trouble over a report that he discussed the Trump campaign with Russia’s ambassador to the US before his boss got elected – something he had repeatedly denied.
Sessions had previously denied meeting the ambassador at all, only to be forced to admit that he had – twice.
Trump didn’t talk about the allegation, instead ranting that “illegal leaks must stop”.
In a familiar theme, he also accused former rival Hillary Clinton of criminally deleting thousands of emails she sent while secretary of state.