Lewandowski refuses to say whether Trump has offered him a pardon

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski refused to answer on Tuesday when a Democratic lawmaker pressed him on whether President Trump had ever dangled a pardon to persuade him not to cooperate with the now-shuttered special counsel probe.

During a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Lewandowski cited executive privilege and refused to describe his conversations with the president after Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) questioned whether Trump had pressured him to refuse cooperation as he had reportedly done with Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman.

{mosads}”Did the president ever try to discourage you from speaking with the special counsel, Mr. Lewandowski?” Scanlon asked.

“I can’t speak to any private conversation I may or may not have had with the president other than to say I’ve always been told to tell the truth,” he responded.

“OK. So you’re not going to tell us today whether he ever instructed you not to cooperate with the special counsel?” she asked again.

“I’ve never been instructed to do anything but tell the truth,” Lewandowski replied.

Scanlon listed a number of Trump officials who she said had reportedly been offered pardons in the face of potential charges, including Manafort, Richard Gates, and others.

“Has the president ever offered you a pardon?” she asked.

“Again, the White House has directed I not disclose the substance of any conversation I’ve had with the president or his advisers,” he responded.

Lewandowski refuses to say whether Trump dangled him a pardon in exchange for not cooperating with the special counsel pic.twitter.com/UD4KzZ6Trm

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2019

Democrats have sharply criticized the White House following a letter from the Trump administration Monday night restricting Lewandowski, who never held an official role in the White House, and other witnesses from describing any conversations they had with Trump or his advisers.

“Mr. Lewandowski’s conversations with the President and with senior advisers to the President are protected from disclosure by long-settled principles protecting Executive Branch confidentiality interests and, as a result, the White House has directed Mr. Lewandowski not to provide information about such communications beyond the information provided in the portions of the Report that have already been disclosed to the Committee,” White House counsel Pat Cipollone wrote.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) called the move a breach of the separation of powers and indicated that it could affect the committee’s consideration of articles of impeachment.

“The President would have us believe that he can willfully engage in criminal activity and prevent witnesses from testifying before Congress — even if they did not actually work for him or his administration,” Nadler said in a statement on Monday night. “If he were to prevail in this cover-up while the Judiciary Committee is considering whether to recommend articles of impeachment, he would upend the separation of powers as envisioned by our founders.”