Trump decries leaks, asserts pardon power

President fired off nearly a dozen tweets on Saturday.

NORFOLK, VA. — A defiant President Donald Trump unleashed a flurry of nearly a dozen tweets Saturday morning, asserting that he has the “complete power to pardon” aides, family members and possibly even himself — an apparent response to the special counsel’s widening Russia probe — and decrying “illegal leaks” in the “fake news.”

The president also lashed out at a new Washington Post report of previously undisclosed alleged contacts between Attorney General Jeff Sessions — at the time a U.S. senator and senior adviser to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign — and a Russian official. In a Tweet, Trump called the disclosures an illegal new “intelligence leak,” part of his continuing effort to try to shift the public focus to what he claims is a partisan attempt to undermine his presidency.

The president’s defense of his pardoning authority came days after The Washington Post reported that he and his legal team have discussed his power to pardon those close to him, including himself.

Shortly after his tweetstorm, which started just after 6:30 am and lasted nearly two hours, Trump flew to Norfolk, Va., where he injected a small dose of partisan politics into the ceremonial commissioning of a new naval warship.

Speaking aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford here, Trump extolled the virtues of the “wonderful, beautiful but very, very powerful” nuclear-powered warship — “We will win, win, win,” he said, “we will never lose” — but also decried the budget compromise known as sequestration, which requires mandatory and corresponding military and domestic cuts.

Trump promised to try to restore higher levels of military funding, but urged the crowd of about 6,500 — many in uniform — to help push this year’s budget through Congress.

“I don’t mind getting a little hand, so call that congressman and call that senator and make sure you get it,” he said, to applause. “And by the way, you can also call those senators to make sure you get health care.”

But Trump’s brief appeal created a potentially awkward tableau at a commissioning event intended to be ceremonial — a commander in chief offering political remarks, and what could even be construed as an order, to the naval officers he commands.

The president’s 17-minute speech aboard the naval vessel here, as well as his frenzied social media assertions Saturday — which veered between proclamations of innocence and frustration — came as Trump is struggling to stabilize his presidency, just six months in. He and several family members, including his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and his sonin-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, are facing mounting legal questions about their involvement in possible collusion between the president’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

And on Friday, Trump implemented the most dramatic, if potentially unintended, overhaul of his White House so far, installing wealthy financier Anthony Scaramucci as his new communications director — a move that set off an unexpected chain reaction of resignations (White House press secretary Sean Spicer) and promotions (deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, into Spicer’s spot at the podium).

Trump’s morning tweets began with an assertion that the president has “complete power to pardon” in an apparent allusion to the ongoing probe into his campaign’s contacts with Russian officials. And he lashed out at a new Washington Post report of previously undisclosed alleged contacts, calling the disclosures “illegal leaks” as he continues to try to shift the public focus to what he has said is a partisan attempt to undermine his presidency.

The president’s defense of his pardon powers came days after The Post reported that he and his legal team have discussed his power to pardon aides, family members and, possibly, even himself. Trump aides said the president is merely curious about his powers and the limits of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s attempt to tamper with the 2016 election.

Currently, the discussions of pardoning authority by Trump’s legal team are purely theoretical, according to two people familiar with the ongoing conversations. But if Trump pardoned himself in the face of the ongoing Mueller investigation, it would set off a legal and political firestorm, first around the question of whether a president can use the constitutional pardon power in that way.

“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”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2017

In another tweet, Trump continued his campaign to discredit the investigation as based on leaks of information from political enemies aimed at undermining him. The Post reported late Friday that U.S. intelligence officials had collected information that Russia’s ambassador to the United States had told superiors that he had discussed campaign-related matters and policies important to Moscow last year with Jeff Sessions, then a senator who had endorsed Trump.

“A new INTELLIGENCE LEAK from the Amazon Washington Post,this time against A.G. Jeff Sessions. These illegal leaks, like Comey’s, must stop!”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2017