President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Friday that the president is not trying to send a message by making presidential pardons following Giuliani’s earlier claim that Trump might “clean up” the special counsel probe through pardons.
Cuomo asked Giuliani whether the president is sending a message with his recent pardons, as some critics have warned.
“No, I don’t think so. I think he is exercising his constitutional function,” Giuliani said.
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Cuomo argued that most presidents wait until the end of their terms to issue pardons and usually do them in large quantities.
Giuliani responded by noting that former President Reagan pardoned hundreds and not all at the end of his term. He added that pardons got a bad name because of former President Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich, whom Giuliani prosecuted for tax evasion.
Giuliani also defended former President Ford’s pardon of former President Nixon, saying it was “maybe to let the country move forward.”
Earlier in the day, Giuliani told the New York Daily News that Trump could pardon people involved in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russian meddling probe.
“When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons,” Giuliani told the Daily News.
He told Cuomo that his comments leave out that he doesn’t think Trump will pardon anyone.
“I was asked a question, ‘is he going to pardon anybody?’ ” Giuliani told Cuomo. “What’s left out is my first answer was no, he is not going to pardon anybody.”
Giuliani noted that “every one of his lawyers” has recommended to the president that he not pardon anybody.
“He 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,” Giuliani said, but quickly noted that the president could pardon anybody and might.
Giuliani on Friday also called for a quick end to Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference and possible collusion.