After parroting sinister conspiracy theories for the past two years accusing President Donald Trump of colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 election, Democrats are moving on to the next sham story.
In a transparent attempt to discredit the president, the establishment media are now suggesting that Trump plans to pardon many of his former aides ensnared in the Russia probe. However, when White House reporters asked the president if he plans to use his presidential powers to let his friends off the hook, he revealed that he has yet to even consider the subject.
“Haven’t thought about it,” Trump said Monday, a day after the special counsel’s findings vindicating the president were released.
The sky is falling in Washington
Even before the special counsel’s findings were made public, Democrats began speculating that Trump would grant clemency to former staffers caught up in Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. “Pardoning someone who did or didn’t testify in a case directly related to the president would be absolutely outrageous,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) told Politico in a phone interview.
“It is a concern of mine,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) admitted on Saturday. “I am concerned that the president not misuse his pardon power in a way that will be seen as overtly partisan and to challenge or push back on the whole Mueller investigation.”
However, Trump legal advisor and spokesperson Rudy Giuliani said that the president hasn’t even considered the possibility of a presidential reprieve. “No, God forbid, no. No. No,” he said Sunday morning. “If we haven’t thought about pardons and commutations up until now and fought off all the questions about it, no, there’s not going to be any thought about that.”
The former New York mayor continued, calling suggestions that Trump would seek revenge against Democrats by pardoning his associates represents a political attack. “They’re got to have something to complain about,” he said.
“They’ve had two years of kind of creating this false narrative of collusion,” Giuliani continued. “That’s kind of become a dud. And now the question really has been turned on them, which is, who invented it, where did it come from, I think that’s going to be real interesting. I wonder if they have any interest in investigating that?”
Similarly, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders denied allegations that Trump was considering a blanket reprieve of individuals tied to his 2016 campaign. She told reporters there is “no discussion I’m aware of on any pardons at this point.”
Progressive paranoia
So why the hysteria surrounding Trump’s presidential powers? Much of the progressive paranoia is rooted in what the president isn’t saying, rather than any specific pledge to take action to exonerate his supporters.
During a November 2018 interview with the New York Post, Trump insisted that he “never discussed” pardoning Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman. However, he added that he “wouldn’t take it off the table,” either. “Why would I take it off the table?”
Yet, it was a rather innocent comment from Trump that touched off the latest round of clemency conspiracies from Democrats. Following the Sunday publication of the special counsel’s summary findings, Trump complained that “so many people have been so badly hurt” by the investigation.
That statement was enough to trigger Democrats and their allies in the mainstream press. But it doesn’t take much these days to get the left fired up these days when it comes to the prospect of presidential overreach.
Fake crisis
During the height of the special counsel’s investigations, rumors persisted that Trump would fire Mueller and install a friendlier special counsel. Congressional Democrats even tried to pass legislation that would give the special counsel a 10-day window to seek review of a firing to ensure he was terminated for good cause.
“There’s no reason we shouldn’t add this and avoid a constitutional crisis,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in November.
Republicans were right to oppose this political theater. “It’s not necessary,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at the time. “The Mueller investigation is not under threat. The president said repeatedly that he’s not going to dismiss the Mueller investigation. He’s said repeatedly it’s going to be allowed to finish. That also happens to be my view.”
Just like the fake crisis created to suggest that Trump was going to fire the special counsel, the current hubbub surrounding the potential for a presidential pardon is overblown. But then again, the entire Russia investigation was one underhanded assault on the office of the president of the United States, leading many Americans to wonder when these concentrated political hit jobs will end?
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