Day 501: Trump finally dips toe into self-pardoning waters

Trump finishes shift from, ‘I’m totally innocent’ to ‘I can always pardon myself’

Frequently in politics — and life — someone throws out a half-baked idea to gauge the public opinion of it. Donald Trump has used that method numerous times. Most recently, for a week or two, he tried to mount the “there was an Obama spy in my campaign” conspiracy theory that was eventually undercut by members of his own party and, you know, evidence.

Trump was at it again Monday morning. He floated, for the first time, his perceived ability to pardon himself.

It’s a breathtaking statement in its moxie. Sure, he denies wrongdoing, but why even bring up the self-pardon if he hasn’t at least considered it? And if he has considered it, that implies at least an uneasiness in his innocence.

Trump’s claim of an absolute right to self-pardon is also not necessarily true. There are competing arguments on both sides of the self-pardon debate. While the Constitution gives extremely broad pardon powers to the president, the nature of what a pardon is means that it’s inherently something given to another.

If someone bumps into someone else on the street, they may say, “Pardon,” but what they’re really asking is for the other person to excuse their misstep. Here, Trump’s claim of ability to pardon himself is akin to him punching a wall and excusing himself from doing so, since he’d be the wrong-doer and the absolver. Logically, that doesn’t comport.

If Trump goes the route a self-pardon, it would be an admission of guilt and many experts believe an impeachment would quickly follow. If a self-pardon was allowed to stand during an inevitable court battle — a presidential self-pardon has never occurred — it would also signal a potential future for candidates running for the presidency: commit as many federal crimes as you want, since the day after your inauguration, you can pardon yourself and your entire team. Surely that’s not what the framers had in mind over 200 years ago.

Trump’s Monday morning weather balloon isn’t about denying wrongdoing, it’s about testing public opinion to an extremely controversial issue that Trump is clearly pondering.

501 days in, 961 to go

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