SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – President Donald Trump has suggested he wants to pardon himself, with less than two weeks left of his presidency, the New York Times reports.
This after a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday while lawmakers were inside to hold a meeting to certify Joe Biden’s win in the presidential election.
Trump reportedly told advisers that he is giving himself a pardon, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
No U.S. president has pardoned himself.
It’s important to note that presidential pardons only apply to federal law and provide no protection against state crimes.
They would not apply to charges that could be brought by prosecutors in Manhattan investigating the Trump Organization’s finances.
Trump is also reportedly preparing pardons for White House officials and family members, including celebrities, according to Bloomberg.
The list of preemptive pardons includes:
- Chief of Staff Mark Meadows
- Senior adviser Stephen Miller
- Personnel chief John McEntee
- Social media director Dan Scavino
- Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who both hold White House positions
- Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani
- Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News host who is dating his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr
- Rapper Lil Wayne
- Rapper Kodak Black
The president wants the preemptive pardons to shield recipients from prosecutions for any federal crimes committed before the pardons were issued.
He’s also considering a traditional pardon for Albert Pirro, who previously worked with the president on real estate deals and was convicted of tax fraud. Pirro is the ex-husband of Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a former district attorney of Westchester County in New York.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called on the Cabinet to immediately remove President Trump from office in the wake of the deadly protests at the Capitol.
“I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th Amendment. If the vice president and Cabinet do not act the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment,” Pelosi said during a press conference Thursday.
Democrats and some Republicans are pushing for Trump to be removed before his term ends on Jan. 20.
The 25th Amendment allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unfit for office.
If Vice President Mike Pence were to successfully invoke the 25th Amendment, Trump would no longer have the power to pardon himself — or others — as his powers would transfer to Pence.