Sen. Marco Rubio warned Sunday that a decision by President Trump to pardon Paul Manafort could prompt Congress to consider limiting his pardon power through a constitutional amendment.
“I think it would be a terrible mistake if he did that,” Rubio, R-Fla., said on ABC’s “This Week” about the possibility that Trump would pardon his former campaign manager.
“I think in fact if something like that happened, it could trigger a debate about whether the pardon powers and whether they should be amended given these circumstances,” Rubio said.
Rubio didn’t specifically talk about a constitutional amendment, but the pardon power comes directly from the Constitution, which means an amendment would be needed to alter that power.
Constitutional amendments initiated by Congress require the support of two-thirds of lawmakers in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. A proposed amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the states.
Before joining Trump’s campaign, Manafort earned millions working for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine. He was convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion in August in Virginia before pleading guilty weeks later in Washington to additional criminal charges linked to his foreign lobbying work.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team alleges Manafort recently violated his plea deal arrangement by lying to Congress.
Trump referred to Manafort as “brave” after his conviction in August, and in a Nov. 28 interview, Trump told the New York Post that he had not ruled out a pardon for Manafort.
“It was never discussed, but I wouldn’t take it off the table. Why would I take it off the table?” Trump told the Post.
Rubio, the senator derisively dubbed “Little Marco” by Trump in 2016 said it would be a mistake.
“I don’t believe that any pardons should be used in relation to these particular cases,” Rubio said. “Frankly, not only does it not pass the smell test, I think it undermines the reason why we have presidential pardons in the first place.”
