Last updated on March 9th, 2019 at 04:06 pm
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has introduced a new bill that would stop Trump or any other president from using pardons for personal gain or to obstruct justice.
According to a statement provided to PoliticusUSA by Rep. Schiff, “The legislation would require that if the President pardons someone in connection with an investigation in which the President or one of his family members is a target, subject, or witness, the evidence against the recipient of the pardon would be provided to Congress by the Department of Justice.”
Trump has made it clear that he is dangling pardons to players in the Russia scandal in an effort to keep them on his side and away from cooperating with prosecutors.
Rep. Schiff said, “The President has a broad power to confer pardons, but not when they are designed to insulate himself, his family and his associates from criminal investigation. Such an abuse of the pardon power would amount to obstruction of justice and is not countenanced by the constitution,” Schiff said. “The Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act creates a powerful check against deploying pardons in cases involving the president or his immediate family by ensuring that any evidence gathered in such an investigation is provided to Congress. The rule of law requires that a president use the pardon power only for reasons separate from his own criminal exposure.”
It appears that Rudy Giuliani and Trump are trying to entice defendants in the criminal investigations into Trump not to cooperate by putting the idea out that if people keep their mouths closed, Trump will pardon them. According to Michael Cohen, Trump and Giuliani are using indirect contacts in an effort to cover their tracks.
Adam Schiff is ten steps ahead of Donald Trump, and he is offering legislation that would slam the door shut on one of Trump‘s schemes to evade justice.
The abuse of pardon power is an impeachable offense, and Schiff‘s bill could stop Trump dead in his tracks.
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Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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