Donald Trump throws a fit, threatens not to pardon his friends and family
Over the weekend the news broke that Bill Barr and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone have both warned Donald Trump not to try to pardon himself, because doing so could end up creating larger liabilities for him. This isn’t surprising; Palmer Report has been explaining for the past four years that pardons are tricky and aren’t magic wands.
But it sounds like Trump never got the memo, and now he’s shocked and angry to learn that he can’t just magically absolve himself of all liabilities by pardoning himself. Now ABC News is reporting that Trump is threatening not to pardon anyone if he can’t have one for himself.
This is a rather bizarrely self defeating position to take, and it’s the latest indication that he’s self destructing by the minute. It means that Donald Trump is essentially willing to help send his own friends and family to prison, just to spite the pardon system for the fact that he can’t pardon himself, or something. This is stupid even for him.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report