New talk of President Trump possibly pardoning himself drew pushback from Republicans on the Sunday show circuit this week.
Both congressional Republicans and the president’s attorney Rudy Giuliani urged caution that a self-issued pardon could be politically problematic for Trump.
But Giuliani said the president “probably” has the power to give himself a pardon even though doing so would prove to be difficult.
“I think the political ramifications of that would be tough. Pardoning other people is one thing. Pardoning yourself is another,” Giuliani told ABC’s “This Week.”
“Other presidents have pardoned people in circumstances like this, both in their administration and sometimes the next president, even of a different party will come along and pardon,” he continued.
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Giuliani went even further, saying that such a move “would just be unthinkable, and it would lead to probably an immediate impeachment.”
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But Republican members of Congress during their Sunday show appearances expressed concern that a self-pardon would put the president in a compromising position.
“I think that would be a terrible move. I think people would erupt. I think even thinking about trying to fire Mueller is a bad move politically,” Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“So I hope we don’t have to get to that point. And it’s hard to predict what would happen, but that would create outrage on both sides of the political aisle.”
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) echoed Hurd’s concerns, but suggested that a self-pardon isn’t necessarily on Trump’s agenda.
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GOP pushes back against Trump possibly pardoning himself https://t.co/TW6iOyWWLx pic.twitter.com/5hhtwORAT1
— The Hill (@thehill) June 3, 2018
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