Page 9 - Pardon Process News Today

Ayesha. >> i wanted to ask about the pardoning process. it seems like we have had these three pardons. they all were somewhat high-profile or gotten media attention. how is the president deciding when to take action on a case, i mean with arpaio, he hadnt even been sentenced yet. the libby case was very old. how are you deciding when to take action on these cases? and can a normal person who feels like they have been unjustly convicted, can they get their case to the white house? i mean there is...

Coming at this time. the other thing i would say, too, is this is a pardon that didnt go through the ordinary pardon process. one thing that viewers may not know is that typically there is a lengthy petition that is made for a pardon and a very complicated set of procedures that are followed to evaluate pardons. theres an entire office in the justice department that plays a big role in that. and that wasnt followed here. i think you were mentioning earlier that theres certainly an implication th...

>> so i dont think that we can rule that out. the timing of his departure on the heels of the news that he had dangled those pardons is certainly one piece of evidence from which you could conclude that he had been told that there were problems coming down the road. the origin of that problem is that the pardon process is something -- and nicolle, im sure you know this, you expect to see that process initiated some place along the spectrum between the justice department and the white house issui...

Could become a subject and need a lawyer himself, joyce? >> so, i dont think that we can rule that out. the timing of his departure on the heels of the news that he had dangled those pardons is certainly one piece of evidence from which you could conclude he had been told that there were problems coming down the road. the origin of that problem is that the pardon process is something -- and, nicolle, im sure you know this. you expect to see that process initiated someplace along the spectrum bet...

The words are significant, but what we do know with this president is that he makes decisions off the cuff with his gut, and he may suddenly decide to move forward with the pardon process. remember, typically when you go through the pardon process, theres some sort of justice department review. the justice department goes through this, and this is a very serious matter that happens throughout the government. but when you look what he did with the last pardon, joe arpaio, there was no real justic...

White house lawyer who is responsible for the pardon process. so that sort of puts this in a whole different category when you are looking at it from the criminal perspective. and the one other point i would say that does make it remarkable, regardless of whether it could be part of a technical obstruction of justice charge, it goes to the whole consciousness of guilt that we keep coming back to of what are they trying to hide and why. what were they so afraid of it? i know you asked that and ma...

Presidents side at this time. so it is -- there is a sort of unbelievability to it that he wouldnt have known. but that is yet to be determined. >> what about the pardons? the reporting from both the "times" and confirmed by the washington post said that john dowd up until last week had been talking to manaforts and flynns lawyer in the time that the investigation was closing in on them and said, hey, listen, we could have a presidential pardon. how big of a deal is that? >> i think the most imp...

Chair, orrin hatch and myself, ranking democrat, agreeing to set in motion a process to obtain the tax return, have the finance committee look it over if get them to go along, yes would be a policy for making them public. i say respectfully, not been able to get republican support. >> its a concrete action they can take if concerned where this is headed. also about the presidents power to pardon federal crimes is well nigh absolute, if he were to do it and many think thats manaforts angle here, ...

Also about the presidents power to pardon federal crimes is well nigh absolute, if he were to do it and many think thats manaforts angle here, what could congress or people do? >> i feel this pardon issue is not unlike firing bob mueller. if youre even looking at that, thinking about the pardon process at this point, i think youre going to be triggering a constitutional crisis, i think would be a big mistake. many republicans in the senate have said that they would be for bob mueller. ive been t...

And theres been no contrition, and theres still in the press statements today, no contrition said he was railroaded in a witch hunt by legacy obama people, not further from the truth. >> claiming hes the victim here. american civil liberties union calls this pardon a presidential endorsement of racism. what message do you pick up from this pardon? >> well, so, i think in pure legal terms, it is sort of a denigration of the rule of law. that is, two judges found this fellow in contempt of the fou...