Amid a sudden focus on methods to potentially remove President Donald Trump from office, the president has begun grafting a lift of people to pardon during his final days – with himself high up on the list.
The New York Times reported that the President Trump has spoken to his advisors about the possibility of granting himself a self-pardon in the days before he leaves office.
It is an untested question courts would consider a self-pardon by the president valid. Richard Nixon was pardoned by President Gerald Ford when he resigned after Watergate.
President Donald Trump has spoken about the possibility of granting himself a self-pardon, pardoning family members and close associates, as well as a pair of rappers in his final days in office
Trump has told advisors since Election Day that he was thinking about the idea, even as he doled out pardons to political supporters like former national security advisor Gen. Mike Flynn, who withdrew his guilty plea to lying to the FBI in the Russia probe.
Trump has tweeted that he has the power to self-pardon but has said he doesn’t need one. The U.S. Attorney in D.C. said Thursday that the office would investigate those who instigated the rioters who stormed the Capitol, not just the vandals themselves.
The Biden administration would be faced with whether to honor the pardon as well as whether to charge a former president, and federal judges would have to sort out its validity.
Trump has also considered pardons for family members Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner. He also has considered one for personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who addressed the rally crowd Wednesday urging ‘trial by combat.’
The talks came before Monday’s events, and also before Trump’s Jan. 2 call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom her urged to ‘find’ 11,780 votes that would make him the winner there, in a call leaked to the Washington Post.
That call could bring legal exposure for potential violation of laws on interfering in an election. State officials have said they are looking into it. Trump could only pardon himself from federal crimes.
Trump is reportedly considering a pardon for rapper Lil Wayne
Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., is also on the list of family members and associates who could get a Trump pardon in advance of being charged with any offense
Donald Trump Jr. delivered fiery remarks before supporters who went on to trash the U.S. Capitol
Trump is considering handing out pardons to family members. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump run the Trump Organization along with an executive
Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and asked him to ‘find’ 11,780 votes for him in Georgia
Rudy Giuliani, who addressed the rally crowd Wednesday, urged ‘trial by combat.’
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who was on the Raffensperger call, is also on a list
Eric Trump, son of U.S. President Donald Trump, and his wife Lara raise their fists as Trump supporters gather by the White House ahead of his speech to contest the certification by the U.S. Congress of the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021
Albert Pirro and his wife, Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, leave court at the end of the day in White Plains, N.Y., in this June 19, 2000 file photo. After a marriage of over 30 years that has been punctuated by prison and scandal. Pirro is one of Trump’s favorite Fox News commentators
On January 6, 2021, Pro-Trump supporters and far-right forces flooded Washington DC to protest Trump’s election loss. Hundreds breached the U.S. Capitol Building
Wednesday’s chaotic events are unlikely to prompt Trump to abandon thoughts of pardoning himself. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday he had incited an armed insurrection against America.’
Trump’s list also includes some prominent rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, Bloomberg reported. Black served time in prison on weapons charges. Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., whose stage name is Lil Wayne, served time on weapons charges.
Several on the list haven’t been charged with crimes and might not – making a potential pardon awkward since accepting one implies accepting guilt.
Also on the list following a post-election pardon spree are chief of staff Mark Meadows, longtime aide Johnny McEntee, who was fired amid a reported criminal investigation, then returned to the staff to help purge ‘deep state’ operatives from agencies.
Longtime aides Stehen Miller, architect of some of the administration’s immigration crackdown policies, and close aide Dan Scavino – who posted Trump’s early morning statement after violence in the Capitol – are reportedly included.
So is Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., and Albert Pirro, the former husband of Fox News personality Judge Jeanine Pirro.