Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., warned Sunday it’d be “a terrible mistake” if President Donald Trump would pardon his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort in the wake of prosecutors’ charges that he lied to the FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller.
In an interview on ABC News’ “This Week,” Rubio said he had “not heard that the White House is thinking about it,” though “I know [Trump] hasn’t ruled it out.”
“It would be a terrible mistake, I think,” he said. “I would not support it. I don't believe any pardon should be used. I think it undermines the reason for presidential pardons. It could trigger a debate about the pardon powers and whether they should be amended given these circumstances. I hope they don't do that.”
In a heavily redacted filing Friday, Mueller’s office said Manafort lied to prosecutors about his contacts with the White House and an associate with suspected ties to Russian intelligence after signing a plea agreement.
Rubio also declined to say if he believes prosecutors’ assertions that Trump directed his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen on campaign finance violations.
“They have someone that testified to that fact,” Rubio said. “The president is saying that that's not true. We don't know what other investigation the Justice Department has to corroborate it or not. I think it's important for the information to be out here.
“I won't sit here and say it didn't happen,” he continued. “It's possible that the Justice Department has additional corroborating evidence. It's also possible they don't. It's important for us to have the full context of the information before us before we can make final judgments on these issues.”
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