Blumenthal: ‘Pardoning Paul Manafort Would Be an Obstruction of Justice’

EXCERPT:

BLUMENTHAL: “Pardoning Paul Manafort would be an obstruction of justice. Pardoning Paul Manafort would be plainly an indication of approval of his lying to prosecutors and his continued deception to them and to the American people. There can be no explanation for a pardon other than the president rewarding Paul Manafort for his defying a legitimate and important effort to get at the truth and to impose justice on Russian collusion by the Trump campaign and obstruction of justice potentially involving the president himself. Right now there is a credible case of obstruction of justice against the president of the United States. Whether he will be charged while he’s in the White House remains to be seen. And obviously the Justice Department has informal policies against it. But at the end of the day, the investigations will go on, here and in the southern district of New York and among state authorities. And I think that pardoning Paul Manafort would, in effect, send a message that you can break the law, defy the justice system and then be rewarded by the president of the United States.”