Giuliani says Trump may consider pardons after Russia probe
Published Jun 18, 2018 04:13 pm
By the Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Sunday the president might pardon his jailed, onetime campaign chairman and others ensnared in the Russia investigation once special counsel Robert Mueller's work wraps up, if he believed they were treated "unfairly."
FILE - In this May 5, 2018, file photo, Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks at the Iran Freedom Convention for Human Rights and democracy in Washington. Giuliani said Sunday, June 17, 2018, that President Donald Trump might pardon former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and others ensnared in the Russia investigation once special counsel Robert Mueller's work is finished, calling it unnecessary for now as the White House seeks to push a rapid end to the year-long probe. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Until then, consideration of clemency is unnecessary, Giuliani said, as the White House presses to bring the yearlong investigation to an end.
Giuliani denied that Trump was trying to send a message to Paul Manafort, who was the 2016 chairman for nearly five months, or others to refrain from cooperating with prosecutors. The former New York City mayor suggested that an end to the investigation could be in sight one way or the other — either by undercutting the Mueller's inquiry as illegitimate, or if necessary, by agreeing to a Trump interview with prosecutors under limited conditions.
"The president is not going to issue pardons in this investigation," Giuliani said. "Because you just cloud what is becoming now a very clear picture of an extremely unfair investigation with no criminality involved in it of any kind."
But, he added, "When it's over, hey, he's the president of the United States. He retains his pardon power. Nobody is taking that away from him. He can pardon, in his judgment."
Manafort was sent to jail last week after a federal judge revoked his house arrest over allegations of witness tampering in the Russia investigation. Trump has criticized that decision as "very unfair" as Manafort prepares for two criminal trials.
Trump has worked outside the traditional pardon process and used his clemency powers in cases where he believed prosecutors may have been motivated by politics. He made clear on Sunday his view of Mueller's investigation, saying it was "on pretty weak grounds right now."
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she thought it would be "more helpful if the president never mentioned the word pardon again with respect to the Russian investigation because he wants to get that Russian investigation completed. And every time he brings up the issue of pardons it gives the investigators something else that they have to look into."
Seeking to undermine Mueller's work, Trump and his lawyers have seized on a Justice Department inspector general's report on the 2016 Hillary Clinton email investigation that found insubordination and poor judgment at the FBI. Some of the officials who worked on the Clinton investigation also worked on the FBI's Russia probe, but the report did not find that political bias had tainted the Clinton review.
The Justice Department has asked its internal watchdog to review whether there was any politically motivated surveillance by the FBI of the Trump campaign.
"This is a case where it's crying out for someone to investigate the investigators," Giuliani said. "We want the Mueller probe to be investigated, the way the Trump administration has been investigated."
Echoing Giuliani's view, former White House strategist Steve Bannon said there was no need for pardons because Trump could disrupt the Russia investigation by firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller.
FILE - In this May 5, 2018, file photo, Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks at the Iran Freedom Convention for Human Rights and democracy in Washington. Giuliani said Sunday, June 17, 2018, that President Donald Trump might pardon former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and others ensnared in the Russia investigation once special counsel Robert Mueller's work is finished, calling it unnecessary for now as the White House seeks to push a rapid end to the year-long probe. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Until then, consideration of clemency is unnecessary, Giuliani said, as the White House presses to bring the yearlong investigation to an end.
Giuliani denied that Trump was trying to send a message to Paul Manafort, who was the 2016 chairman for nearly five months, or others to refrain from cooperating with prosecutors. The former New York City mayor suggested that an end to the investigation could be in sight one way or the other — either by undercutting the Mueller's inquiry as illegitimate, or if necessary, by agreeing to a Trump interview with prosecutors under limited conditions.
"The president is not going to issue pardons in this investigation," Giuliani said. "Because you just cloud what is becoming now a very clear picture of an extremely unfair investigation with no criminality involved in it of any kind."
But, he added, "When it's over, hey, he's the president of the United States. He retains his pardon power. Nobody is taking that away from him. He can pardon, in his judgment."
Manafort was sent to jail last week after a federal judge revoked his house arrest over allegations of witness tampering in the Russia investigation. Trump has criticized that decision as "very unfair" as Manafort prepares for two criminal trials.
Trump has worked outside the traditional pardon process and used his clemency powers in cases where he believed prosecutors may have been motivated by politics. He made clear on Sunday his view of Mueller's investigation, saying it was "on pretty weak grounds right now."
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she thought it would be "more helpful if the president never mentioned the word pardon again with respect to the Russian investigation because he wants to get that Russian investigation completed. And every time he brings up the issue of pardons it gives the investigators something else that they have to look into."
Seeking to undermine Mueller's work, Trump and his lawyers have seized on a Justice Department inspector general's report on the 2016 Hillary Clinton email investigation that found insubordination and poor judgment at the FBI. Some of the officials who worked on the Clinton investigation also worked on the FBI's Russia probe, but the report did not find that political bias had tainted the Clinton review.
The Justice Department has asked its internal watchdog to review whether there was any politically motivated surveillance by the FBI of the Trump campaign.
"This is a case where it's crying out for someone to investigate the investigators," Giuliani said. "We want the Mueller probe to be investigated, the way the Trump administration has been investigated."
Echoing Giuliani's view, former White House strategist Steve Bannon said there was no need for pardons because Trump could disrupt the Russia investigation by firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller.