Maggie Haberman: Trump Is ‘Legally Entitled’ to Issue Pardons, But the Process Has Changed

RUSH EXCERPT:

HABERMAN: “One of the things we describe in the book is how he and people close to him say that he just experienced the pardon process as light, or his power as a revelation. Essentially, it was quick, it was unilateral, and it was what he wanted all of government to be. And that is what he is trying to do now across all fronts. It obviously isn’t, as Jonathan just said, he does have the power to do pardons. When you raise this issue, when one raises this issue with people in his government, they will say publicly and privately, this is the thing that the Constitution allows him to do. That’s true, but usually it has been some kind of a process, and there have been erosions in that prior to this term. But this is not going through some extensive DoJ process. This is people who in some cases pay millions of dollars to find people who can get in the president’s ear directly. the White House has tried putting in place a process that often breaks down, because there is this side route, which the president clearly prefers."