Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said in an interview published Monday that President Donald Trump’s pardon of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was a signal to reassure his associates implicated in the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“He is telegraphing to anyone involved in his political campaign that as long as they stick with him, the possibility of a pardon is open, just the way it was for Arpaio,” Schiff told the Washington Post.
Trump on Friday pardoned Arpaio of a conviction of criminal contempt of court.
Schiff said “the purpose” of Trump’s pardon “sends a message that if you have the President’s back, if you’re one of his supporters, he won’t necessarily wait until the end of a criminal case to give you a pardon.”
“There are a number of ways that this could be applied to those who are either asking for immunity in the Russia probe or are exposed to potential liability,” he said.
Schiff said Trump is sending a message to members of his 2016 campaign that “he is not beyond using the pardon power to protect them and protect himself.”
