UPDATE 10/31/2017: Congressman Steve Cohen has introduced a Constitutional Amendment in an effort to limit the scope of the President’s pardon power.
The following statement was released Tuesday:
“The Amendment would prohibit presidents from pardoning themselves, as well as members of their family, their administration and campaign staff.
Video of the Congressman speaking on House floor about the Amendment can be found here.
“The pardon power is supposed to be a safety valve against injustice,” he said. “It is not supposed to be a way for presidents to put themselves, their families and members of their administration and campaigns above the law. Monday’s indictment of President Trump’s Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort demonstrates how important it is for Congress to act.”
The Amendment would apply to the current as well as future presidents.”
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(ORIGINAL STORY 10/30/2017)
Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen of Memphis says he will introduce a Constitutional amendment limiting the President’s pardoning authority. This comes after a federal grand jury indicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Rep. Cohen released the following statement:
“The indictment of Paul Manafort, who served as Donald Trump’s campaign chairman last year, accelerates the need to pass a Constitutional amendment limiting a president’s pardoning authority. I will be introducing the amendment on Tuesday. If adopted, the amendment would prohibit presidents from pardoning themselves, their families, members of their administrations and individuals who worked on their presidential campaigns. The indictment makes clear that some of Manafort’s activities took place while he was working on the Trump campaign so the need is clear and present.”
