VOA慢速英语--Can President Trump Pardon Himself?

 

President Donald Trump¹ wrote on Twitter Monday that he has the “absolute right” as president of the United States to pardon himself.

Trump also criticized the U.S. Justice Department for deciding to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible wrongdoing in the 2016 elections.

The president wrote, “As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?”

He added, “The appointment of the Special Counsel is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Despite that, we play the game because I, unlike the Democrats², have done nothing wrong!”

Trump’s comments came a day after his lawyer, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, said the president could pardon himself.

Giuliani’s comment is similar to a memo³, published by The New York Times, from his lawyers to special counsel Robert Mueller. The letter claimed that Trump “could, if he wished, terminate the inquiry⁴, or even exercise his power to pardon if he so desired.”

Last May, the Justice Department named Mueller, a former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation⁵ (FBI), as special counsel. He and his team are investigating whether Russia and Trump’s presidential election campaign worked together to influence the 2016 vote.

Mueller has since charged several people connected to the Trump campaign. Others admitted guilt⁶ in court to making false statements to the FBI. The special counsel also brought charges against 13 Russians and three Russian companies with plotting to interfere⁷ in the election.

The issue of presidential pardons has been raised in recent weeks. The U.S. Constitution says the president “shall have Power to grant Reprieves⁹ and Pardons for Offenses¹⁰ against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment¹¹.”

Since taking office, Trump has approved pardons for several people who are not connected to the Mueller investigation. The moves and his comments led to a question whether he can actually pardon himself.

Can a president pardon himself?

Brian Kalt is a legal expert with the Michigan State University College of Law. He wrote about this subject in the 1990s during congressional efforts to remove President Bill Clinton from office.

Kalt said James Wilson, a founding father of the U.S., indirectly¹² raised the issue at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

Kalt wrote that, “When the question of potential presidential self-dealing through the pardon power had been raised… Wilson had argued, the President was not above the law. As such, the pardon power could not protect him as it had (England’s) King Charles II.

The exact question of self-pardoning was not directly settled by the convention’s delegates. However, Kalt noted¹³ that self-pardons either were not considered or thought to be unacceptable.

In the end, “presidents cannot pardon themselves,” he wrote.

Judge Richard Posner wrote in a 1999 book about the Clinton case that the question was left open by the founding fathers. “It has generally been inferred from the breadth of the constitutional language that the president can indeed pardon himself,” Posner argued.

Samuel Morison once worked for the Justice Department as a lawyer and specialized¹⁴ in pardons. Last May, he told The Washington Post that a self-pardon could theoretically be done by a president.

He said, “My opinion is that in theory that he could. But then he would be potentially subject to impeachment for doing that.” Morison added that there is nothing “in the Constitution itself that says he can’t do that.”

In 1974, President Richard Nixon reportedly asked for a legal opinion on self-pardon as he faced investigation. The president was accused of covering-up evidence of criminal activity.

Shortly before Nixon’s resignation from office, the Justice Department Office of Legal Council issued a memo on the subject. Acting¹⁵ Assistant Attorney General Mary Lawton wrote, “Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself.”

In August 1974, Nixon resigned from the presidency¹⁶. A month later, President Gerald Ford¹⁷ pardoned Nixon for any crimes he might have committed during the Watergate crisis. The former president was never charged or found guilty of federal crimes.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

absolute - adj. complete and total

scholar - n. a person who has studied a subject for a long time

despite - preposition, used to say that something happens or is true

terminate - v. to end something

reprieve⁸ - n. an official order that delays punishment

impeachment - n. charge against a public official with a crime done while in office

infer - v. to reach a conclusion based on known facts

breadth - n. the wide scope or range of something

issue - v. to announce something in a public and official way

commit - v. to do something that is illegal or harmful

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

4 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

7 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

8 reprieve   

n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解

参考例句：

• He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
• The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。

9 reprieves   

n.（死刑）缓期执行令( reprieve的名词复数 )；暂缓，暂止v.缓期执行（死刑）( reprieve的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Death: You all say that. But I grant no reprieves. 死神：你总是这样说，但是，我不再容许拖延。 来自互联网

10 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

11 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

12 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

15 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

16 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

17 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。