President Trump really could get away with murder, Republicans seemed to argue Thursday in trying to block a pair of bills aimed at the commander-in-chief.
Spurred by Trump’s commutation of the sentence for convicted liar Roger Stone — and the possibility Trump might pardon himself — the House Judiciary Committee marked up bills that would require extensive disclosure of future pardons and prohibit a chief executive from dealing himself a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Republicans insisted Congress can place no restrictions on the pardon power that are not already in the Constitution. The only outright ban on pardons in the founding document is in cases of impeachment.
“The pardon power is plenary under Article 2. It means it’s virtually without limit. There are no constraints on it,” said Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, who led much of the argument for the GOP against the Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act and the No President is Above the Law Act.
Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) found Biggs’ argument astounding — and that it led to a dark place.
“The president … could announce on television today that he plans to murder every member of Congress, or every inhabitant of the state of Arizona,” Nadler told Biggs, taking the meaning of “no constraints” to its ultimate limit.
“Jefferson and Lincoln both said that the Constitution is not a suicide pact. Mr. Biggs thinks the Constitution is not only a suicide pact, but a murder pact,” Nadler said. “The President can do anything he wants, pardon himself in advance, and no one can punish him for it. No one can do anything. This is absurd.”
Biggs fired back that of course a pardon for murder would not be appropriate, and suggested Nadler was in fantasy territory.
“You’re saying President Trump’s going to, maybe he’s the kind of guy that’s going to murder a bunch of people, but he’s going to prepardon himself. That is, that is ludicrous,” Biggs snapped.
Trump has tweeted that he absolutely has the power to pardon himself, and infamously said that he could shoot someone on Fifth Ave. without losing any votes. The Justice Department has long maintained that a president cannot be prosecuted in office. It would have to be done after he left.
