President Donald Trump speaks to the press outside the Oval Office of the White House on June 1, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)
“You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand why courts would never uphold a president’s power to commit crimes and then pardon himself for them.”
06.04.2018
Echoing the tyrannical claim of his lawyer Rudy Giuliani in a Twitter outburst on Monday, President Donald Trump asserted that he has the “absolute right” to pardon himself—a claim legal experts said is both factually inaccurate and dangerous.
As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2018
Responding to the president’s tweet, former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti wrote, “You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand why courts would never uphold a president’s power to commit crimes and then pardon himself for them.”
I thought the whole point was that we don’t have a king. https://t.co/WOCzdB59q1
— Zack Ford (@ZackFord) June 4, 2018
I do not know if Donald Trump will attempt to become a dictator. But this is exactly what you would say if you were laying the foundation to become a dictator. https://t.co/PacoHpxAfo
— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) June 4, 2018
Other legal experts and commentators similarly disputed Trump’s claim that he has a right to pardon himself—while also noting the “very, very disturbing” implications of the president’s assertion.
Originally published by Common Dreams under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license.