The talks of presidential pardons have been in the air since the weeks leading up to the election this year. After President-Elect Joe Biden swept the race out from under Donald Trump’s feet and crushed his pipe dreams of a second term, the speculations quickly become far more specific, with many people expecting the outgoing president to pardon himself of his numerous crimes on his way out the door. So far, while we’ve read reports that hint at the idea being floated inside the White House, we’ve yet to actually see a pardon for anything more than two turkeys — the Thanksgiving one and Michael Flynn.
However, according to a new report from the New York Times, it seems that another key member of Trump’s inner circle may be vying for one of those “Get Out Of Jail Free” cards.
According to the report, Donald Trump’s personal attorney and champion of his Election Day fraud defense team, Rudolph W. Giuliani, might be asking his boss for a big favor before his presidential powers run cold in a few short weeks.
The Times writes that Rudy “discussed with the president as recently as last week the possibility of receiving a pre-emptive pardon before Mr. Trump leaves office, according to two people told of the discussion.”
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The report notes that it’s unclear who brought the subject up, what Trump’s answer was if he gave one, and even what specific crimes Mr. Giuliani would be pardoned of.
The report reads:
Mr. Giuliani’s potential criminal exposure is unclear. He was under investigation as recently as last summer by federal prosecutors in Manhattan for his business dealings in Ukraine and his role in ousting the American ambassador there, a plot that was at the heart of the impeachment of Mr. Trump.”
Robert Costello, Rudy’s own attorney, said, “He’s not concerned about this investigation, because he didn’t do anything wrong and that’s been our position from Day 1.”
Of course, Rudy quickly took to Twitter, appearing to deny the story:
#FakeNews NYT lies again. Never had the discussion they falsely attribute to an anonymous source. Hard to keep up with all their lies.
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) December 1, 2020
While a pre-emptive pardon is certainly unusual, it’s not unheard of. And we all know good and well that Trump wields his power to the fullest extent at every given opportunity. I can only imagine that he’ll be handing out pardons as parting gifts over the course of the next few weeks.
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