President Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, visited CNN Friday night to talk about — what else? — Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Host Chris Cuomo honed in on Giuliani's suggestion earlier in the day that "when the whole thing is over," former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort (presently jailed for alleged witness tampering) may get a presidential pardon.
Giuliani maintained his personal advice to Trump is "no pardons," and that he was merely reflecting on the historical record when he spoke about Manafort. He also argued Trump's recent consideration of pardons for high-profile figures like Martha Stewart and Rod Blagojevich is not intended to send a message to associates under Mueller's scrutiny.
"Let me make it clear right now, anybody listening," Giuiani said, "[Trump] is not going to pardon anybody in this investigation, but he is not obviously going to give up his right to pardon if a miscarriage of justice is presented to him after the investigation." When Cuomo pushed back, suggesting Trump should recuse himself from pardoning people in connection to this specific probe, Giuliani refused to back down. If Trump did that, he said, "he might as well give up being president!"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Watch the full interview; the pardon discussion begins around the 10-minute mark. Bonnie Kristian
-
5 bullseye cartoons about the reasons for mass shootingsCartoons Artists take on gun worship, a price paid, and more
-
Lisa Cook and Trump's battle for control the US FedTalking Point The president's attempts to fire one of the Federal Reserve's seven governor is represents 'a stunning escalation' of his attacks on the US central bank
-
'Three Pads' Rayner: a housing hypocrite?Talking Point As real estate moguls go, the Deputy PM is 'hardly Donald Trump'
-
RFK Jr. names new CDC head as staff revoltSpeed Read Kennedy installed his deputy, Jim O'Neill, as acting CDC director
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich throwerSpeed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodusSpeed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official saysSpeed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judgesSpeed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policingSpeed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa CookSpeed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportationSpeed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
