January 12 According to a CNN report on the 11th, US President Trump has been warned by the former Attorney General and White House lawyers not to pardon himself with presidential power.
CNN quoted several sources as saying that former Attorney General Barr and White House lawyer Chippolone both think that Trump’s pardon is a bad idea. In December 2020, Barr had expressed his attitude to Trump before resigning.
Barr allegedly insisted that the Ministry of Justice’s 1974 legal memorandum on the President’s non-absolution of his own should be valid, which reads that “no one can be a judge in his own case, which is the basic principle that the president cannot pardon himself”.
It is understood that the White House Office of Legal Counsel usually consults the Office of the Department of Justice on major legal issues.
The latter is responsible for giving opinions on the scope of the executive branch’s powers and having a more comprehensive view of the presidential powers.
However, Chipolone did not request the Ministry of Justice to conduct a study on the relevant issues.
CNN pointed out that Barr and Chiplone’s opposition to Trump’s pardon is noteworthy, because both of them have previously strongly supported the President’s exercise of executive power in the process of “communicating Russia” and impeachment.
In addition, due to different views on whether there is fraud in the election, the relationship between the two and Trump has gradually deteriorated.
Barr chose to resign after announcing that no obvious fraud was found, and Chiplonne has also considered resigning in recent weeks.
