Former President Donald Trump revealed that he was given the option to issue a self-pardon before leaving the White House in January 2021. However, in an interview with NBC News, Trump stated that he decided against it, not because he couldn’t, but because he believed it would look bad.
Trump mentioned that he had a couple of attorneys who told him he could pardon himself if he wanted to. Nevertheless, he admitted that he had other people advising him against it, as they believed that it would be perceived negatively. Ultimately, Trump decided against giving himself a pardon, stating that it would be the last thing he’d ever do.
It was previously reported by CNN that in his final days in office, Trump consulted with aides and lawyers, including White House counsel Pat Cipollone, about his self-pardon power. When asked if he would consider self-pardoning in a hypothetical second term, Trump responded that it was highly unlikely.
Trump questioned the legitimacy of the charges against him and maintained his innocence, asking what he had done wrong. At the time, he faced no criminal charges. It is worth noting that a president’s pardon powers do not extend to state crimes, such as the charges he faces in Georgia and New York.
In 1974, during the Watergate scandal involving President Nixon, the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department issued a memo stating that a president could not pardon himself. Although this memo is not legally binding, it provides some guidance on the issue.
Despite the option presented to him, Trump ultimately decided not to pardon himself and left the White House without doing so.
