Schiff: Trump’s Arpaio Pardon A Signal To Those Implicated In Russia Probe

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, meets with reporters to discuss the process for investigating whether or how Russia influenced the presidential election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. House Intelligence chairman Devin Nunes said earlier that Congress should not begin a McCarthy-style investigation based on news reports that a few Americans with ties to President Donald Trump had contacted Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, meets with reporters to discuss the process for investigating whether or how Russia influenced the presidential elec... Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, meets with reporters to discuss the process for investigating whether or how Russia influenced the presidential election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. House Intelligence chairman Devin Nunes said earlier that Congress should not begin a McCarthy-style investigation based on news reports that a few Americans with ties to President Donald Trump had contacted Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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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.”

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Notable Replies

  1. Absolutely.

    Donnie Two Scoops is turning us into a banana republic.

  2. Trump probably has drafts of pardons written out for a dozen or more people by now.

  3. Using the term “Banana Republic” is blatant product placement for clothing sold by Ms Trump. Please replace with the phrase “Third World Shit-hole”.

    Thank You - Society for the Prevention of Obfuscatory Euphemisms (SPOE).

  4. Combined with the way that he continues to divide us, you’ve got the makings for a nice banana split.

  5. …I refuse to even consider where the cherries are coming from…

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