President Donald Trump will not pardon himself, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said on Sunday.
‘It’s not going to happen,’ Giuliani said on NBC’s Meet the Press. ‘The president has no need to do that, he’s done nothing wrong.’
The former New York city mayor admitted such a controversial move by the president could lead to impeachment proceedings in Congress.
‘It would probably lead to immediate impeachment,’ he said.
Rudy Giuliani said of President Trump: ‘He has no intention of pardoning himself”
President Trump’s lawyers suggested in a letter to the special counsel that the president could terminate the investigation or pardon himself
Rudy Giuliani distanced himself from the letter, which was written before he joined the president’s legal team: ‘I would prefer to put emphasis on the fact he didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, he didn’t obstruct’
No president in American history has ever pardoned himself. There are also questions if he could pardon himself. Presidential pardoning power is broad but not limitless and several legal scholars believe a president could not pardon himself from federal charges.
Giuliani argued Trump can pardon himself – he just won’t.
‘He has no intention of pardoning himself, but that doesn’t say he can’t,’ he told ABC’s ‘This Week.’ ‘I think the political ramifications of that would be tough.’
The former New York City Mayor also distanced himself from arguments made by Trump’s legal team in a 20-page letter to special counsel Robert Mueller, obtained by theNew York Times, that postulates the president cannot legally obstruct the Russia investigation because the Constitution empowers him to, ‘if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon.’
‘I didn’t make the argument, but I agree with most of it as any lawyer. I probably would’ve organized it differently,’ he said on NBC News. ‘I agree with about 80 percent of what he wrote.’
‘I would prefer to put emphasis on the fact he didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, he didn’t obstruct.’
The letter was written by two of the president’s lawyers at the time, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow, and was written before Giuliani joined the president’s legal team.
Giuliani said on ABC that Mueller has not responded to that January letter.
He also defended Trump’s shifting explanations about a 2016 meeting with Russians at Trump Tower that included his son, Donald Trump Jr.
‘This is the reason you don’t let the president testify’ as part of Mueller’s probe, Giuliani told ABC. ‘Our recollection keeps changing, or we’re not even asked a question and somebody makes an assumption.’
He compared the situation with the president to his statements that Trump repaid his attorney Michael Cohen’s $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, allegedly so she wouldn’t talk about an affair with the president, which Trump has denied having.
‘Happened to me with the whole situation of repaying the money that was laid out by Cohen,’ Giuliani said. ‘In my case I made an assumption and then we corrected and I got it right out as soon as it happened. I think that’s what happened here.’
Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti slammed Giuliani’s comment as an ‘admission’ that Trump was aware of the repayment before the former mayor joined the legal team in April.
‘This is why I love it every time Mr. Giuliani speaks. He just acknowledged that BEFORE he joined Mr. Trump’s team on Apr. 19, Trump was aware of the repayment to Cohen and lied about it. Rudy: under the law that’s called an ‘admission’ and it’s very damaging. Pls keep talking.’
Giuliani said on Thursday Trump mostly ignores Avenatti.
It’s been questioned why the president, who tweets frequently about the investigations surrounding his administration, rarely attacks Daniels’ attorney, who is a constant presence on TV and social media.
‘I don’t think the president pays much attention to him really,’ Giuliani told Business Insider. ‘I mean he tries to engage us. He wanted to debate me and I laughed at it.’
The former mayor added that Trump thinks Avenatti is ‘a fool’ and the president ‘probably feels terrible that he’s caused so many problems for Michael Cohen, who doesn’t deserve it.’
Cohen is now under criminal investigation in New York for whether he violated campaign-finance laws or committed bank fraud with his payment to Daniels.
Giuliani also addressed questions about whether or not Trump will testify to Mueller, noting most lawyers don’t want their clients to take the stand.
Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti slammed Rudy Giuliani’s comment: ‘This is the reason you don’t let the president testify’ as ‘our recollection keeps changing’
Rudy Giuliani said on President Trump mostly ignores attorney Michael Avenatti.
Rudy Giuliani said President Trump ‘probably feels terrible that he’s caused so many problems for Michael Cohen’ who is under investigation for a payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels
‘Every lawyer he has including this one always wants their client not to testify,’he said on ‘Meet the Press.’
But, he added, ‘the president wants to testify… he believes he’s innocent, I believe he’s innocent.’
The concern among Trump’s legal team is if the president testifies he risks exposing himself to accusations of lying to investigators, which isa potential crime or impeachable offense.
Giuliani said on ABC he doesn’t know whether Mueller has concluded his investigation into the alleged collusion charge but ‘I’ve got a feeling he did. I have a feeling that collusion has come up completely empty.’
But it was the topic of whether or not Trump would pardon himself that was subject to most of Sunday morning’s chatter.
And there appeared to be wide-spread agreement that if he can pardon himself, he shouldn’t.
Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York who was fired by Trump, said it would be ‘outrageous’ if the president pardon himself.
‘I think it would be outrageous for a sitting president of the United States to pardon — I think if the president decided that he was going to pardon himself, I think that it is almost self-executing impeachment,’ he said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, also weighed in against the idea.
‘I don’t think a president should pardon themselves,’ he said on CNN.