Trump did not forgive himself before leaving office

Former President Donald Trump did not preemptively forgive himself before leaving office on Wednesday.

This development crowned months of speculation about whether Trump, facing increasing legal and political exposure, would take the unprecedented step of issuing a pardon to himself on his way out of the White House.

The president has also not forgiven any of his three adult children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric, who help oversee the Trump Organization.

CNN reported on Tuesday that lawyers, including White House adviser Pat Cipollone, convinced Trump to give up trying to forgive himself or his children, saying the move could make him look guilty and leave him exposed to more legal risks.

The vehicle said that despite Trump’s tense relationship with Cipollone, his message “resonated” and “scared” Trump to retreat from the idea of ​​forgiving himself.

As president, Trump had the power to grant forgiveness even when the recipient was not charged or convicted of a crime. The Supreme Court ruled in 1866 that power “extends to all crimes known to the law and can be exercised at any time after your commission, either before the start of the judicial process or during your presidency, or after conviction and trial”.

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JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images

It was not clear whether a self-forgiveness would contain legal water

Whether he could forgive himself, however, was less clear. The issue was never tested, and the Supreme Court did not give its opinion.

Several associates, including Cipollone and former Attorney General William Barr, have warned Trump against forgiving himself, the New York Times reported. They warned that the president would lose his right to the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination if he did, and could also negatively affect the view of Trump’s Republican senators before his Senate impeachment trial.

The House accused Trump in an article inciting the January 6 uprising waged by supporters of the former president at the U.S. Capitol. Ten Republicans joined House Democrats in impeaching Trump for the second time in his presidency, the first in the history of the United States.

Trump’s Senate trial, in an equally divided chamber with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, will take place after he has already stepped down. The Senate can take a vote to prevent Trump from taking federal office again if he is condemned. Assuming that all 50 Democrats vote for sentencing, 17 Republicans would need to join them to obtain the required two-thirds majority.

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Trump also faces possible criminal exposure related to the coup attempt that resulted in five deaths. FBI and Justice Department officials said they are conducting an “unprecedented” criminal investigation into the attempted coup, and the US attorney in Washington, DC, has not ruled out accusing the president.

Carolyn Kaster / AP

Trump may now face legal exposure from several state and federal investigations

Meanwhile, Trump and his business are under considerable investigative scrutiny at the federal and state levels. The president is particularly concerned about two New York fraud investigations in the Trump Organization’s financial activities. One is a civil investigation conducted by the New York attorney general’s office and the other is a criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Potential charges arising from any of the inquiries would not be covered by the scope of a pardon, which applies only to federal crimes.

Attorneys General of Maryland and Washington, DC, also filed a federal lawsuit accusing the president of violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause by personally profiting from foreign officials and diplomats who remained on Trump’s properties while he was president.

Trump may also be under scrutiny for actions that were described in the final report by special council Robert Mueller on investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 American elections. The 448-page report detailed at least 11 cases in which prosecutors said Trump tried obstruct justice, and Mueller testified in Congress in 2019 that the president could be indicted for this crime after leaving office.

David Dee Delgado / Getty

The Federal Election Commission is also investigating a complaint that accuses the Trump campaign of “disguising” and laundering nearly $ 170 million in spending.

The president was also cited as an uncharged co-conspirator, “Individual-1”, in the Southern District of New York case against his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Cohen pleaded guilty in August 2018 to five counts of tax evasion, one charge of bank fraud, one charge of making an illegal corporate contribution and one charge of making an illegal contribution to campaign funding on October 27, 2016.

The last two charges were related to secret payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal before the 2016 elections. Both women threatened to go public with details of extramarital affairs they said they had with Trump in the 2000s.

Cohen said he facilitated a payment of $ 130,000 to Daniels “under the direction of the candidate” and for the “purpose of influencing the election”, which violates the campaign finance law by exceeding the maximum contribution of $ 2,800 that a person can give to a federal office candidate.

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Cohen also admitted to orchestrating an illegal $ 150,000 Trump campaign payment to American Media Inc., publisher of the National Inquirer, to buy the rights to McDougal’s story, but never publish it, a practice known as “catch and kill” .

Under the Biden administration, the IRS can deliver Trump’s much-sought federal tax returns to Congressional investigators, the content of which could further harm Trump legally. The New York attorney general’s office and the Manhattan district attorney’s office are also investigating whether some tax breaks that benefited Ivanka Trump broke the law.

And when Trump leaves office and sees his successor in office, a legal cloud still looms over the finances behind his own tenure.

In addition to an active SDNY investigation into Trump’s inaugural committee spending and whether the group exchanged donations for political access, Karl Racine, the attorney general of Washington, DC, filed a lawsuit in July accusing Trump of using the inaugural committee as a vehicle to enrich your family and business interests by accepting above-market rates at the Trump International Hotel in DC.