NY AG predicts Trump will resign so Pence can pardon him [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• In her interview with ABC’s The View, New York Attorney General Letitia James predicted that President Donald Trump would quit his post and allow Vice President Mike Pence to grant him a preemptive pardon.
• James forecast points to the Department of Justice’s 1974 memo, stating that former President Richard Nixon “cannot pardon himself.”
• Previously, President-elect Joe Biden has mentioned that he won’t issue a pardon to Trump.

On Tuesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) envisioned that President Donald Trump would resign and let Vice President Mike Pence give him a preemptive pardon.

During her interview with ABC’s The View, James said: “He can preemptively pardon individuals, and the vast majority of legal scholars have indicated that he cannot pardon himself. What he could do is step down and allow the vice president — Vice President Pence — to pardon him.”

James added that “at some point in time, [Trump] will step down and allow the vice president to pardon him.”

The prediction was referring to the 1974 Department of Justice memo, stating that former President Richard Nixon “cannot pardon himself” from the infamous Watergate scandal.

The justice memo states that “if under the Twenty-Fifth Amendment the President declared that he was temporarily unable to perform the duties of the office, the Vice President would become Acting President and as such could pardon the President. Thereafter the President could either resign or resume the duties of his office.”

According to James, the president can issue pardons for federal crimes but has no authority to pardon state crimes.

Last year, the attorney general led an investigation about Trump’s businesses and its relation to Deutsche Bank. The president’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, propelled the inquiry after testifying that Trump intentionally bloated his monetary resources and assets.

James also predicted that Trump would issue pardons to his family members and allies before signing off to secure a pardon for himself.

Even if a person has received a pardon from a federal crime, he or she can still be charged in New York after the local lawmakers constituted a bill authorizing the state.

As a stauch supporter of the bill, James was happy when it became an official Empire state law. “President Trump cannot avoid justice in the great state of New York,” she said.

There were calls for President-elect Joe Biden to pardon Trump once he assumes in the White House, but the former vice president has previously said that he won’t give such clemency.

Source: The Hill