President Donald Trump
Rips Russia probe before family talks to Senate; sanctions loom
takes to Twitter to assert that “all agree” that he has “complete power to pardon,” even as the Russia investigation expands.
NORFOLK, Va. — President Donald Trump raised the specter of presidential pardons Saturday — declaring his “complete power” to grant them — amid a string of angry tweets that seemed to reflect his growing concern about the widening criminal investigation into allegations of Russian collusion that he has long dismissed as “fake news” and a “witch hunt.”
By mentioning pardons, even as he said it’s too soon to consider them, Trump appeared to acknowledge the legal jeopardy his inner circle may face in the FBI probe into whether Trump’s presidential campaign coordinated with Russian intelligence agents trying to influence the 2016 election.
He thus opened a new chapter for an embattled White House that has seen the president and his top aides hire private lawyers and provide testimony. Jared Kushner, Trump’s sonin-law and a senior adviser, is scheduled to meet Monday in closed session before the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of several congressional panels conducting inquiries.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, and Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, also have agreed to provide records and speak privately with the Senate Judiciary Committee as early as this week.
Trump’s reference to pardons was in a flurry of 10 early morning tweets about the media, Trump Jr.’s legal problems, new disclosures about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ meetings with a Russian diplomat, and old grievances over Hillary Clinton’s emails.
But the Russia investigation remains the chief focus of his ire. The multiple investigations at the FBI and on Capitol Hill have overshadowed the White House as it struggles to pass major legislation after six months in office.
The mounting difficulties were highlighted Saturday when congressional leaders defied Trump and reached agreement on bipartisan legislation that allows sweeping new sanctions against Russia for its meddling in the U.S. election— and sharply limits Trump’s ability to lift or reduce them.
If the legislation passes intact, as expected, Trump would face a difficult choice — whether to veto a bill and fuel concerns that he is siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin, or sign legislation that his administration strongly opposes for tying his hands in foreign affairs.
Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the legislation was “the product of intense negotiations.”
“A nearly united Congress is poised to send President Putin a clear message on behalf of the American people and our allies, and we need President Trump to help us deliver that message,” Cardin said in a statement.
Nevertheless, Trump’s tweets Saturday — a day after he shook up his communications and legal teams — seemed to indicate that he has no intention of curbing the brash style he brought to the White House.
Indeed, Trump’s new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, declared immediately after he was appointed Friday that he has little desire to rein Trump in even if it were possible.
“The president himself is always going to be the president,” Scaramucci said in his introductory news conference. “I was in the Oval Office with him earlier today, and we were talking about letting him be himself, letting him express his full identity.”
It’s unlikely Trump’s early morning tweets were vetted by his staff or attorneys. In one, he misspelled “special counsel” as “Special Council,” a reference to Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who was appointed in May to lead the Russia probe.
By midday Saturday, he was commissioning the Gerald R. Ford, a $13 billion super aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Va., smiling broadly as thousands of people cheered, white-clad sailors ran through the hangar deck in formation and a military band played “Anchors Aweigh.”
“American steel and American hands have constructed a 100,000-ton message to the world,” he said. “American might is second to none, and we’re getting bigger, and better and stronger every day of my administration.”
That message could have served as a capstone to “Made in America Week,” one of several themed weeks the White House has declared in an attempt to impose discipline on the administration’s communications and focus public attention on his economic agenda.
But hours before the rousing ceremony in the sweltering heat, Trump was sending tweets from the White House, beginning at 6:33 a.m. EDT.
“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,” he tweeted at 7:35 a.m. EDT. “FAKE NEWS”
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Trump has discussed pardons of close associates, and even himself, with staff in recent days. The Constitution indeed grants almost unlimited authority to the president to issue pardons for criminal actions, but no president has ever tried to pardon himself.