Trump: Mueller Inquiry Is 'UNCONSTITUTIONAL!'

And addresses whether he can pardon himself (he says he can)
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 4, 2018 9:05 AM CDT
Trump: Mueller Inquiry Is 'UNCONSTITUTIONAL!'
In this May 30, 2018 photo, President Donald Trump arrives for a bill signing ceremony in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, Wednesday, May 30, 2018, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Trump kicked off his Monday morning with a series of tweets about tariffs, the economy, and the "witch hunt" against him. The two receiving this most attention:

  • This: "The appointment of the Special Councel [sic] is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Despite that, we play the game because I, unlike the Democrats, have done nothing wrong!"
  • And this: "As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!"

Regarding the constitutionality of the Mueller probe, the American Prospect tackled that very subject in a May 30 piece, detailing at length why "the special counsel’s work is firmly grounded in precedent." It's in part a counter-opinion to a May 13 Wall Street Journal op-ed written by Federalist Society chair Steven Calabresi that asserted the probe "crosses the legal line." As for the issue of whether Trump could pardon himself, it was a hot topic this weekend following a NYT report on a 20-page letter written by Trump's lawyers that touched on the subject; Rudy Giuliani addressed it too. CNBC chimes in, citing a Justice Department memo written in advance of President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation, the first line of which reads, "Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself." (More President Trump stories.)

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