Rare Contributor
President Donald Trump is claiming that he, as president of the United States, has the “complete power to pardon.” His statement comes as the Federal Bureau of Investigation continues its investigation into the Trump family’s ties to Russia.
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In a tweet early Saturday morning, Trump said that “all agree” that the president has “complete power” to pardon, writing, “While all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon, why think of that when only crime so far is LEAKS against us.FAKE NEWS.”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/888724194820857857
RELATED: FBI investigations: can President Trump pardon himself?
His tweet comes amidst an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller and the FBI into Russian purchases of apartments in Trump’s buildings and an investigation into the family’s finances.
As far as Trump’s claim that he has “complete power” to pardon, legal experts have said that, while the president can pardon his aides or his family, he, legally, cannot pardon himself.
Memos that were written during former President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal also show that the president of the United Sates doesn’t have that power to pardon himself.
The memos state that “under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself.”
