As President Donald Trump touts broad powers to pardon himself, his legal team is behind the scenes preparing for a potential legal showdown with the special counsel investigating possible collusion between Trump's campaign team and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election, The Washington Post reports.
Trump asserted Monday he has the right to pardon himself, but later tweeted, "why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?"
His comments come after The New York Times over the weekend published a letter Trump's former lawyers wrote to special counsel Robert Mueller in January asserting the president could not obstruct an investigation he oversees and could "exercise his power to pardon."
Trump remains resistant to an interview with Mueller, though his team has not ruled one out. If the president does not consent to a sit-down, Mueller will have to decide whether to go forward with a historic grand jury subpoena.
A decision to not comply with a grand jury subpoena likely would set off a legal battle that would be decided by the Supreme Court.
"Both sides are taking a big risk with a subpoena fight," Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said.
White House lawyer Emmet Flood and other attorneys have huddled on how to handle a Mueller subpoena while Giuliani and other advisers have discussed plans to prepare Trump for the interview, including bringing on former Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., to assist.
"I'd like to bring Chris Christie in," Giuliani told the Post. "He and Chris get along, and Chris is a lawyer, so you have attorney-client privilege."
Four former Trump campaign associates – Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, and George Papadopoulos – have been charged during the Russia probe, though none of the charges are directly related to any misconduct by the president's campaign.
Trump, who has continuously referred to Mueller's probe as a witchhunt, also alleges he never colluded with Russia. Mueller is investigating whether the president obstructed justice by asking former FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into his national security adviser at the time, Michael Flynn.
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