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![\"rudy](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/giuliani.jpg?resize=195%2C195\")
<\/p>\nGiuliani Says Trump Can \u2018Probably\u2019 Pardon Himself as Leaked Mueller Letter Claims Trump Can Also Terminate Any Investigation at Any Time<\/b>
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Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani sat down with ABC News This Week<\/em>\u2018s George Stephanopoulos (above) in the wake of the leak of a 20-page letter<\/a> from Trump\u2019s lawyers to special counsel Robert Mueller claiming that \u201cthe president cannot illegally obstruct any aspect of the investigation<\/a> into Russia\u2019s election meddling because the Constitution empowers him to, \u2018if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon.’\u201d<\/p>\n The confidential memo was published on Saturday by the New York Times<\/em><\/a>. Minutes before its publication, Trump had preemptively tweeted a response to it: \u201cThere was No Collusion with Russia (except by the Democrats). When will this very expensive Witch Hunt Hoax ever end? So bad for our Country. Is the Special Counsel\/Justice Department leaking my lawyers letters to the Fake News Media? Should be looking at Dems corruption instead?\u201d<\/p>\n There was No Collusion with Russia (except by the Democrats). When will this very expensive Witch Hunt Hoax ever end? So bad for our Country. Is the Special Counsel\/Justice Department leaking my lawyers letters to the Fake News Media? Should be looking at Dems corruption instead?<\/p>\n \u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cThe most breathtaking claim to my eyes in the letter,\u201d said Stephanopoulos to Giuliani, \u201cis that claim that the president basically cannot be investigated for obstruction of justice, that he can terminate an investigation at any time for any reason. Any time for any reason?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Replied Giuliani: \u201cFiring an employee when you know that another employee is going to come in and take that job and further the investigation, cannot possibly be obstructing the investigation\u2026for every one of these things that he did we can write out five reasons why he did it. If four of them were completely innocent and one of them is your\u00a0 assumption that it\u2019s a guilty motive, which the president would deny, you can\u2019t possibly prosecute him, or recommend impeachment.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked Stephanopoulos: \u201cDo you and the president\u2019s attorneys believe that the president has the power to pardon himself?\u201d<\/p>\n Answered Giuliani: \u201cHe\u2019s not, but he probably does.\u00a0He has no intention of pardoning himself. Doesn\u2019t say he can\u2019t. That\u2019s another really interesting constitutional argument: Can the president pardon himself?\u00a0It would be an open question. I think it would probably get answered by, \u2018gosh that\u2019s what the Constitution says.\u2019 And if you want to change it, change it. But, yeah. I think the political ramifications of that would be tough.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, the letter revealed that Trump\u2019s lawyers admitted for the first time that Trump dictated the first misleading statement about a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Donald Jr. and other members of Trump\u2019s campaign team and Russians who claimed to have dirt on Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n CNN reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cYou have received all of the notes, communications and testimony indicating that the President dictated a short but accurate response to the New York Times<\/em> article on behalf of his son, Donald Trump, Jr.,\u201d the letter said, according to The New York Times, which published a copy of it. \u201cHis son then followed up by making a full public disclosure regarding the meeting, including his public testimony that there was nothing to the meeting and certainly no evidence of collusion.\u201d<\/p>\n The acknowledgment was tucked away in the letter, which largely focused on defending Trump from a potential subpoena for testimony and asserted broad executive powers to avoid a high-stakes interview with Mueller. The letter, which CNN previously reported on, was signed by Trump\u2019s attorneys at the time, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow. Dowd left the legal team in March, while Sekulow continues representing the President.<\/p>\n House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) appeared on State of the Union<\/em> Sunday and had a difficult time when presented with a montage of Trump\u2019s lawyer\u2019s lying about that very fact.<\/p>\n Watch:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And Giuliani told Stephanopoulos that the reason you don\u2019t let the president testify is that \u201cour recollection keeps changing, or we\u2019re not even asked a question and somebody makes an assumption.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about shifting explanations for statement on Trump Tower meeting, Rudy Giuliani tells @GStephanopoulos<\/a>:<\/p>\n “This is the reason you don’t let the president testify. Our recollection keeps changing, or we’re not even asked a question and somebody makes an assumption.” pic.twitter.com\/Ya0dK1KenB<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 3, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In related news, on Sunday morning Trump tweeted an attack on the DOJ and FBI for not telling him about the investigation into his campaign manager Paul Manafort, who has been charged by Mueller with tax fraud, bank fraud and money laundering: \u201cAs only one of two people left who could become President, why wouldn\u2019t the FBI or Department of \u201cJustice\u201d have told me that they were secretly investigating Paul Manafort (on charges that were 10 years old and had been previously dropped) during my campaign? Should have told me!\u2026.Paul Manafort came into the campaign very late and was with us for a short period of time (he represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole & many others over the years), but we should have been told that Comey and the boys<\/a> were doing a number on him, and he wouldn\u2019t have been hired!<\/p>\n As only one of two people left who could become President, why wouldn\u2019t the FBI or Department of \u201cJustice\u201d have told me that they were secretly investigating Paul Manafort (on charges that were 10 years old and had been previously dropped) during my campaign? Should have told me!<\/p>\n \u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u2026.Paul Manafort came into the campaign very late and was with us for a short period of time (he represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole & many others over the years), but we should have been told that Comey and the boys<\/a> were doing a number on him, and he wouldn\u2019t have been hired!<\/p>\n \u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The post Giuliani Says Trump Can \u2018Probably\u2019 Pardon Himself as Leaked Mueller Letter Claims Trump Can Also Terminate Any Investigation at Any Time<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
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