A self-pardoning Trump couldn’t save himself from the law

President Trump might claim the “absolute right” to pardon himself, but he cannot excuse himself from the reach of the law. Of course, as his tweet on Monday morning suggests, Trump sees things differently.

To start here it’s worth noting that Trump may or may not be right in his contention that he could pardon himself. Ultimately, only the Supreme Court could render a verdict on a president’s self-pardoning powers. Yet, assessing the history of U.S. law and Supreme Court cases which check a president’s right to render absolute power, I believe the court would rule against Trump.

Still, the central issue here is not whether Trump can pardon himself but whether a pardon can prevent all other judicial remedies against Trump. Article 2 Section 2 of the Constitution makes clear that this is not the case, noting that the president “shall have the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”

By those words, the Constitution makes plain that no presidential pardon may interfere with impeachment proceedings. And were Trump impeached and removed from office, he would no longer be president, and thus unable to pardon himself of any new charges brought against him. While Trump might attempt to pardon himself preemptively for all ensuing convictions that might follow impeachment, the Supreme Court would almost certainly rule that such action exceeded constitutional writs of power.

Put simply, Trump’s best bet here is to double down on his other tweet from Monday morning and let Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation run its course.