Post-Mueller pardons?

Democrats warn Trump against post-Mueller pardons

By KYLE CHENEY and ANDREW DESIDERIO

Congressional Democrats are fearful that President Donald Trump — exuberant over special counsel Robert Mueller’s determination that he found no conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives in 2016 — could feel emboldened to quickly to pardon allies swept up in the two-year investigation that the president has routinely harangued as a “witch hunt.”

“Pardoning someone who did or didn't testify in a case directly related to the president would be absolutely outrageous,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) in a phone interview prior to the release of Mueller’s principal findings.

Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who has previously indicated Trump wouldn’t consider clemency until the Mueller probe ended, clamped down on the notion of quick pardons Sunday morning, prior to the release of Attorney General William Barr’s summary of Mueller’s findings.

“No, God forbid, no. No. No,” he told POLITICO. “If we haven’t thought about pardons and commutations up until now and fought off all the questions about it, no, there’s not going to be any thought about that.”

The former New York mayor said Democrats expressing concern about the prospect of presidential reprieves amounts to a political attack against the president.

“They’re got to have something to complain about,” he said. “They’ve had two years of kind of creating this false narrative of collusion. That’s kind of become a dud. And now the question really has been turned on them, which is, who invented it, where did it come from, I think that’s going to be real interesting. I wonder if they have any interest in investigating that?”

One of Trump’s top allies on Capitol Hill also said it was far too early to discuss pardons, even in the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI and has become somewhat of a sympathetic figure in pro-Trump circles.

“It is too soon to have discussions of pardons but many of us who have a deeper understanding of what transpired and the motivations surrounding General Flynn's case believe justice would be served with extreme leniency from the sentencing judge,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said late Sunday.

But Democrats have been worrying for nearly two years that Trump might seek to grant reprieves to his political allies in exchange for their loyalty — and with other investigations pending that could ensnare the president or his allies, they note that pardons could still be consequential. Trump himself at times declined to rule out pardon for close associates netted in the Russia probe, and his allies have mounted ferocious campaigns for clemency for Flynn, a retired lieutenant general and former chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Contributing to their concern, Trump has already pardoned some political allies, including former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza, actions that Democrats on Capitol Hill have suggested could have been test cases for granting reprieves to witnesses in investigations involving him, his company or his campaign.

“It is a concern of mine,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) on Saturday, a day before Attorney General William Barr released a four-page analysis of Mueller’s findings. “I am concerned that the president not misuse his pardon power in a way that will be seen as overtly partisan and to challenge or push back on the whole Mueller investigation.”

Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who opposed Barr’s nomination earlier this year, said that he has “struggled” with Barr in particular when it comes to pardons because of the attorney general’s previous role in the issuing of pardons after the Iran-Contra scandal.

“[Barr] urged President [George H.W.] Bush to broaden the number of people pardoned after the Iran-Contra investigation led to a number of convictions of senior Republicans” when Barr previously served as attorney general in the early 1990s, Coons said. He noted that several guilty pleas in Mueller’s probe were about “lying to federal investigations and about lying to Congress.”

“Those are offenses that are and should be chargeable,” he said, warning against issuing pardons for the several longtime Trump associates who have lied to investigators.

House Democrats are probing Trump’s pardon decisions as part of a sweeping recently launched Judiciary Committee investigation into allegations of obstruction of justice and abuse of power. That probe, according to committee Democrats, includes an examination of whether Trump has tried to dangle pardons to his longtime associates who have either been convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes.

The Judiciary panel is preparing to hold a subcommittee hearing Wednesday on the president’s use of the pardon power, one that was scheduled prior to the release of Mueller’s conclusions.

Giuliani has long contended that Trump wouldn’t consider pardons until after the Mueller probe concluded. But Democrats suggested the president’s public posture toward the investigation betrayed a different mindset.

“I think that when Rudy Giuliani said the president had not thought about that, maybe we should've asked the president that question because I don't believe it,” said Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, in a phone interview.

“I hope he doesn't pardon people for illegitimate reasons,” added Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), another member of the Judiciary Committee, in a phone interview.

Commentators favored by Trump, like Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, and Tom Fitton, head of Judicial Watch, raced to call on Trump to pardon associates ensnared by Mueller.

"It's time to pardon General Flynn and end this disgusting charade," tweeted Bongino on Sunday evening.

"President @RealDonaldTrump should pardon those Americans caught up in the Mueller investigation," said Fitton, shortly after Barr's letter was revealed.