Trump considers preemptive pardons for close allies, family – Report

As U.S. President Donald Trump’s time in office is ending, he is considering preemptively pardoning people close to him and even himself, media said on Thursday.

CNN reported earlier this week that Mr Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other associates had approached him to seek pardons for fear they would be targeted by the next administration.

Mr Giuliani denied this.

The pro-Democratic news network has now cited a source close to the White House, who said that some of Trump’s advisers thought it was fine for him to pardon his family members and close allies, even though they had not been charged with any crime.

CNN said the president had been talking with advisers about pre-pardoning his son-in-law, White House adviser Jared Kushner, and his son, Donald Trump Jr, who had once been probed for alleged contacts with Russian officials.

Mr Trump, who has not conceded his defeat in last November’s elections, last week pardoned his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during a probe into perceived Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.

(Sputnik/NAN)