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They dissuade Trump from granting pardons to his children and lawmakers

2021-01-20T05:52:27.021Z


Legal advisers warned Trump that the pardons he once hoped to grant would put him in a dangerous position.


Trump wishes Biden luck in goodbye video 6:18

(CNN) -

President Donald Trump received a disturbing warning on his last Saturday night at the White House.

In a long and well-attended meeting with his legal advisers, Trump was warned that the pardons he once hoped to grant to his family and even himself would put him in a very dangerous position from a legal point of view, would convey the appearance guilt and potentially make you more vulnerable to retaliation.

Trump was also warned that pardons for Republican lawmakers who had requested them for their role in the Capitol uprising would enrage Senate Republicans who will determine their fate in an upcoming impeachment trial.

The details of the meeting in which Trump's possible pardons were discussed

White House attorney Pat Cipollone and another attorney who represented Trump in his first impeachment, Eric Herschmann, delivered these dire warnings as Trump, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner listened.

Other lawyers joined by phone.

They all told Trump that he shouldn't pardon himself, his family, or any Republican lawmaker prospectively unless he was prepared to list specific crimes.

Cipollone and former Attorney General William Barr warned Trump earlier this month that they did not believe he should be pardoned, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN last week.

Barr conveyed this position to Trump before resigning last month, sources say.

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Trump continued to bring up the matter in the following days, even after officials believed the issue was resolved.

But the sobering meeting Saturday night at the White House seemed to put an end to the idea.

While Trump often dismisses advice he disagrees with - particularly that of Cipollone, with whom he has a fractured relationship - Saturday's message resonated.

The conversation spooked Trump in a way few others have, a person familiar with his reaction told CNN.

Now, Trump will leave office quietly and disheartened at not being able to wield the power he has cherished most while he was president.

Locked in by his own actions that helped spark the Capitol unrest, Trump finds himself constrained in a way that he for the most part avoided throughout his term.

Trump may still change his mind on pardons

His latest batch of pardons, coming later Tuesday, is expected to include few of the controversial or flamboyant criminals who have characterized his earlier use of clemency power.

Trump could still change his mind and retain his broad clemency powers until noon Wednesday.

The president continues to mention pardons that advisers at one point thought were out of the question, including one for former strategist Steve Bannon.

This creates a general uncertainty about whether Trump will continue to follow the advice of his lawyers.

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There is a frantic fight behind the scenes over whether to concede an insult to Bannon.

One concern is Bannon's possible connection to the Jan.6 assault of Trump supporters on Capitol Hill, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

As of Tuesday night, Trump was back and forth on the issue of Bannon's clemency, sources told CNN.

Earlier Tuesday, White House officials and others familiar with the matter described a silent president, concerned about his pending impeachment and legal problems, who was dissuaded from long-discussed ideas after the Capitol uprising.

The situation of several republican legislators

Several Republican lawmakers who were allegedly involved in the rally that preceded the deadly assault on Capitol Hill petitioned Trump for pardons before he leaves office.

However, after meeting with his legal advisers for several hours on Saturday, the president decided he would not grant them, according to two people familiar with his plans.

The fear of legal exposure is not limited to Republicans who promoted or spoke at the rally, including Representatives Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks and Paul Gosar.

Those who participated, organized and raised funds are also concerned, sources told CNN.

This includes his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who spoke at the rally.

What happens to those who entered the Capitol?

Key figures associated with the groups that helped organize it - including Women for America First and Turning Point Action, the arm of the Turning Point USA political action committee - have also privately raised concerns about legal repercussions, a person familiar with the matter said. CNN.

  • LEE: McConnell, Republican leader, says Trump "provoked" the mob on Capitol Hill

Several of Trump's closest advisers have also urged him not to grant clemency to anyone who has entered the Capitol, despite Trump's initial stance that those involved had done nothing wrong.

As CNN previously reported, one of the main organizers of the movement that aimed to reverse the election results claimed that he worked closely with Republican congressmen.

Ali Alexander, leader of the group "Stop the Steal" (Stop the theft), said in several broadcasts live online that he planned the rally with Gosar from Arizona, Brooks from Alabama and Biggs from Arizona.

The Possibilities of Trump's Self-Pardon and Family Pardons

The idea of ​​pardoning himself has captivated Trump for most of his time in office.

He viewed this prospect as a one-sided magic wand that he believed could ease his legal troubles, if not make them go away entirely.

Almost as seductive: preventive pardons for your family members.

Trump has long lamented that their enemies were unjustly attacking them.

Making them immune to retaliation seemed like a raised middle finger to their detractors.

The legal position of any of the measures was questionable.

And Cipollone had been "direct and strong" that a self-indulgence was unlikely to stand up in court, a person familiar with the matter said.

Internally it is believed that one of the elements of Cipollone's legacy is whether he deters Trump from forgiving himself.

Others appealed to Trump, warning him that he should be more concerned about the effect his legacy would have, not the legal status of pardons.

The decision not to pardon any Republican legislator or their relatives was last minute.

After initially championing the idea that he could pardon himself or members of his family for concerns that they would be attacked once he left office, Trump decided Saturday night that he would not pardon anyone in his family or itself.

Disappointed with the result

Trump agreed with lawyers and other advisers that doing so would increase the appearance of guilt and could make them more vulnerable, but was disappointed with the outcome, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump, according to people he had spoken to, seemed more impressed with the message of unchecked power he could send to his detractors than with actual protection against legal liability.

The power of pardon was among his favorite perks of the job.

Trump will leave office facing important legal issues that only escalated during his final days in office.

His phone call to Georgia's secretary of state urging him to "find" votes and his speech encouraging his crowd to "show strength" on his march to the Capitol have put him under a legal microscope.

Ongoing investigations

The new possible criminal exposure adds to ongoing New York State investigations into the president's finances and multiple defamation lawsuits related to Trump denying allegations of sexual assault by women.

The Manhattan district attorney's office conducts a comprehensive criminal investigation into allegations of insurance fraud and tax fraud.

The New York attorney general, for his part, has a civil investigation into whether the Trump Organization improperly inflated the value of its assets.

The legal situation facing the president provided the backdrop to his ongoing discussion on pardons, which began in earnest last year.

For the past few weeks, Trump has incessantly discussed pardons with his partners.

He has often asked if people who had not been charged with any crime wanted a pardon before he left office.

The discussions made some attendees nervous, who did not believe they were on track to be prosecuted.

Even on a day as recent as Monday, with hours remaining in his presidency, Trump seemed obsessed with pardons.

While he was considering pardons for his children and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, a source close to the process said he is no longer expected to grant them.

Bannon, who has been indicted on fraud charges, is also not expected to receive a reprieve on Tuesday, the source said.

Trump's concerns

Trump is not expected to pardon Edward Snowden or Julian Assange, whose roles in revealing American secrets infuriated Washington.

While he once considered the idea, Trump chose not to because he did not want to anger Senate Republicans, who will soon determine whether he is convicted during his upper house trial.

Several Republican lawmakers had sent messages through their aides about their strong opposition to either Assange or Snowden being pardoned.

In leaving office, Trump has expressed real concern that Republicans may turn against him.

A Senate impeachment conviction would limit his future political activities and strip him of some of the government advantages of being a former president.

Trump is less concerned about the possibility of being barred from running as a candidate again, and more concerned about the prospect of being convicted by the Senate, people familiar with the matter said.

pardons

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-01-20

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