Can Trump pardon himself? Arguably no, but that doesn't mean he won't try it
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We know that at least since 2017, Trump has been consumed with one question: Can he grant himself a pardon? «One former White House official said Trump asked about self-pardons as well as pardons for his family. Trump even asked if he could issue pCan Trump pardon himself? Arguably no, but that doesn't mean he won't try it
We know that at least since 2017, Trump has been consumed with one question: Can he grant himself a pardon? «One former White House official said Trump asked about self-pardons as well as pardons for his family. Trump even asked if he could issue pardons preemptively for things people could be charged with in the future, the former official said,» CNN reported earlier this month. The former official told CNN: «Once he learned about it, he was obsessed with the power of pardons. […] I always thought he also liked it because it was a way to do a favor.» One important note here: He could only pardon himself or others for federal crimes, and he has no coverage for the state crimes of the Trump Organization, which is being investigated by both the New York attorney general and the Manhattan district attorney. But there's another question, and that’s whether the Constitution actually does allow a presidential self-pardon. This is a fun read in The Atlantic from constitutional law professor Eric L. Muller a the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, pondering whether Trump can pardon himself for all his past and potentially future crimes. What makes it fun is that Muller argues he has no power to do that because of one simple word: "Article II of the Constitution says that the president 'shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.' Did you catch that? The president has the power not to pardon people, but ‘to grant … Pardons [emphasis added]. So the question is not whether Trump can pardon himself. It's whether he can grant himself a pardon.” Read more