.@JaySekulow: Whether president can pardon himself “is a question that would ultimately…have to be adjudicated by the Supreme Court.” pic.twitter.com/uaZLY1hKAU
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 23, 2017
Can the president pardon himself? It’s an unsettled constitutional question, said Trump attorney Jay Sekulow on Sunday’s episode of This Week. The courts would have to weigh in.
“It has never been adjudicated whether a president can pardon himself because it has not happened,” he said, later adding that he and the president’s outside legal team have not researched this because it’s not an issue they are “dealing with.”
The issue popped up after a recent Washington Post article, citing unnamed sources, said Donald Trump asked his advisers about his pardon power, and whether he can apply it to people such as himself and family members.
And yeah, the question has been debated over whether a president can use this on himself. It was discussed in previous administrations, too. There’s also the matter as to whether pardoning himself sets up the president for impeachment.
A special counsel and several congressional committees are investigating his campaign’s alleged collusion with Kremlin cyberattack and interference efforts during the 2016 campaign. Trump Jr. has released emails showing he met with a Russian lawyer to get dirt on Hillary Clinton, and was promised that this was part of Moscow’s support of his father’s candidacy.
[Screengrab via ABC]
