Rudy Giuliani said President Trump “probably does” have the power to pardon himself.
“He’s not, but he probably does. He [has] no intention of pardoning of himself. Doesn’t say he can’t,” Rudy Giuliani told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week.”
Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who has taken the lead as Trump’s attorney on the Russia investigation, called the question “a really interesting constitutional argument.”
JUST IN: Does Pres. Trump have the power to pardon himself?
“He’s not, but he probably does,” Rudy Giuliani tells @GStephanopoulos. “He has no intention of pardoning himself, but that doesn’t say he can’t.” https://t.co/YQ29ClaVMa pic.twitter.com/jDXl1jOnuV
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 3, 2018
“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.
The comments come after the publication of 20-page letter from Trump’s legal team to special counsel Robert Mueller, who is heading the federal Russia investigation. The 20-page letter, dated Jan. 29 and first published by the New York Times this weekend, argues that Trump cannot be indicted, cannot be subpoenaed and cannot be guilty of obstruction of justice because, as president, he is “chief law enforcement officer.”
Giuliani argued that though he was not part of Trump’s legal team when the letter was written, he still stands by most of it.
“There’s got to be a high bar in terms of convincing us that they’re fair,” Giuliani said of sitting down in an interview.
“We’ll say, ‘Hey, you’ve got everything you need.’” You’ve got everything you need. What do you need us for?” Giuliani said about Trump being subpoenaed and Mueller writing a concluding report about his investigation. “They have to make a decision without him. So, c’mon, man up and make a decision.”
