Earlier today, President Trump took to Twitter and made the completely untrue claim that the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate possible collusion between his campaign and Russia was “totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL” and that he has the right to “pardon” himself, which he does not.
As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2018
In reality, Mueller was appointed in by-the-book fashion by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who himself was nominated for his position by Trump. The entire process has played out exactly as it should and despite the president’s efforts to waylay it, proves that some of our democratic institutions are just as strong as they need to be.
The president’s tweet was just the latest pathetic, transparent act of a desperate man trying to undermine the law enforcement agents he sees as an existential threat to his administration. The tweet also included an unrelated jab at Democrats and the extremely guilty looking pronouncement that Trump has “done nothing wrong!”
The appointment of the Special Counsel is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Despite that, we play the game because I, unlike the Democrats, have done nothing wrong!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2018
Not surprisingly, few were impressed with Trump’s unfounded claim of unconstitutionality. Josh Gerstein, a journalist for Politico pointed out that Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort would have certainly called Robert Mueller’s overall investigation and his own subsequent indictment unconstitutional if there was any veracity to Trump’s claim.
Despite the fact that he could be facing a life sentence on a litany of charges, Manafort didn’t employ the unconstitutional tactic because it’s laughably absurd. No judge would have taken it seriously.
If this is true, you'd think Trump's ex-campaign chairman would've made this argument since he's facing a potential life sentence. But he hasn't. https://t.co/oo4a11kZz2
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) June 4, 2018
Gerstein’s tweet was quickly noticed by George Conway, husband of another Trump campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. Mr. Conway tweeted at Gerstein, adding that if the Mueller investigation were actually unconstitutional, the Republican-controlled Justice Department would take action to protect the president.
The DOJ has ultimate authority over the Special Counsel’s office, and could simply revoke Mueller’s mandate or severely hamper his powers. They have done no such thing because there is no truth to the claims of impropriety on the part of Mueller and his team.
And if this were true, you’d think this conservative Republican-controlled Department of Justice would revoke or decline to utilize the Special Counsel regulations. But it hasn’t. https://t.co/cAggK0XfdU
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) June 4, 2018
Clearly, Mr. Conway doesn’t share his wife’s affection for President Trump and has also leveled other criticisms at him in the past. Meanwhile, Kellyanne Conway continues to be one of the president’s most vociferous, immoral defenders. She’d be wise to take after her husband’s example and distance herself from our wannabe authoritarian before his presidency completely implodes.