Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday on “This Week” that President Trump “probably does” have the power to pardon himself, ABC News reports.
During the interview, Giuliani was asked about a letter that was sent by Trump’s legal team earlier this year to special counsel Robert Mueller, stating that the president could not be forced to testify as part of Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the presidential election, The Washington Post reports. Giuliani was not a part of Trump’s legal team when the letter was written.
The 20-page letter, which was first reported by The New York Times, outlined that Trump could not be indicted while president, could not be found guilty of obstruction of justice since he is “chief law enforcement officer” and could “even exercise his power to pardon.”
“It remains our position that the President's actions here, by virtue of his position as the chief law enforcement officer, could neither constitutionally nor legally constitute obstruction because that would amount to him obstructing himself, and that he could if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon if he so desired,” the letter reads.
When Stephanopoulos asked Giuliani if Trump has the ability to pardon himself, Giuliani responded, “He probably does. He has no intention of pardoning himself, but he probably — not to say he can’t.”
In regards to the president actually pardoning himself, Giuliani said, “He has no intention of pardoning himself.” But Giuliani noted that it was a “really interesting constitutional argument: ‘Can the president pardon himself?’”
“I think the political ramifications of that would be tough. Pardoning other people is one thing. Pardoning yourself is another. Other presidents have pardoned people in circumstances like this, both in their administration and sometimes the next president even of a different party will come along and pardon,” Giuliani added.
This is not the first time that the topic of pardoning has come up with Trump and his team. According to The Post, the president began asking advisers about his ability to pardon family members, friends and possibly even himself as early as last summer. His legal team even began discussing his pardoning powers as well at the time, The Post reports.
