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Added on the 25/03/2019 14:00:09 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
Former special prosecutor Robert Mueller tells US lawmakers that his report on Russia election interference does not exonerate Donald Trump, as the president has repeatedly asserted. SOUNDBITE
Peruvian president Dina Boluarte arrives at Congress in Lima to delivers her government report as people protest outside to demand her resignation. IMAGES
President Donald Trump's final batch of pardons is expected to contain few controversial or outlandish criminals. According to CNN, Trump spent Saturday night huddled in a lengthy meeting with his legal advisers. In it, he was warned that pardoning himself and his family members would put him in legal peril and convey the appearance of guilt. Also, pardoning GOP lawmakers involved in the Capitol insurrection would anger the very Senate Republicans impeaching him. Several of Trump's closest advisers have also urged him not to grant clemency to anyone who breached the US Capitol. White House counsel Pat Cipollone and another attorney who represented Trump in his first impeachment trial, Eric Herschmann, offered the grave warnings. Trump, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner listened quietly. Trump may, of course, change his mind.
Former FBI Director James Comey gave an interview to the Guardian. In the interview he eviscerated President Donald Trump, his supporters, and the Republican Party. He described the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol as the US's "Chernobyl." Comey said the riots were the result of a breakdown in the country's checks and balances caused by Trump. Comey has been forthright about the president in recent days. According to Business Insider Comey has reservations about giving Trump post-presidential intelligence briefings.
President Donald Trump has been asking aides and lawyers about his self-pardon power. This includes White House counsel Pat Cipollone, according to CNN. Some of those conversations have happened in recent weeks, one of the sources says. Trump has asked about the legal and political consequences of a self-pardon. A Justice Department legal memo says the president cannot pardon himself. However, he can step down and ask his vice president to take over and pardon him.