US President Donald Trump is preparing to issue more than 100 pardons and commutations in his last full day in office, but one name that was not on the list on Monday is his.
This according to a source familiar with the effort.
White House advisers said Trump privately debated with confidants whether he should take the extraordinary step of forgiving himself – a move against which some government officials have warned Trump because it would make him look guilty.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump also does not plan to issue preventive pardons to members of his family.
Many scholars have said that self-forgiveness would be unconstitutional because it violates the basic principle that no one should be the judge in their own case.
Others argued that self-forgiveness is constitutional because the power of forgiveness is worded very broadly in the Constitution.
Trump, the only president in the history of the United States to face two counts of impeachment, has been trying to avoid a Senate conviction after the United States invaded the Capitol on January 6 by his supporters.
The House of Representatives accused Trump last week of “inciting violence against the United States government” after he urged his supporters to “fight” the election results in a speech before the attack.
The pardons are to be issued on Tuesday, the day before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, which Trump plans to ignore.
He leaves on Wednesday morning to begin his post-presidency at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. His White House term officially ends at noon on Wednesday, with Biden’s oath.
Video transcription
– United States President Donald Trump is preparing to issue more than 100 pardons and commutations on his last full day in office. But a name that was not on the list on Monday is yours. This according to a source familiar with the effort.
White House aides said Trump had privately debated with confidants whether to take the extraordinary step of forgiving himself, a move against which some government officials have warned Trump because it would make him look guilty. The source speaking on condition of anonymity said that Trump also does not plan to issue preventive pardons to members of his family.
Many scholars have said that personal forgiveness would be unconstitutional because it violates the basic principle that no one should be the judge in their own case. Others argued that self-forgiveness is constitutional because the power of forgiveness is worded very broadly in the Constitution.
Trump, the only president in US history to suffer two impeachment cases –
[GAVEL BOOM]
– is trying to avoid a Senate conviction after the United States Capitol invasion on January 6 by its supporters. The House of Representatives accused Trump last week of inciting violence against the United States government –
DONALD TRUMP: We’re going down to the Capitol!
– – then he urged his supporters to fight the election results in a speech before the attack on the Capitol. The pardons are expected to be issued on Tuesday, the day before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, which Trump plans to ignore.
He leaves on Wednesday morning to begin his post-presidency at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. His White House term officially ends at noon on Wednesday, with Biden’s oath.