The House Judiciary Committee debated on Thursday two bills that have little chance of becoming law, but mark the efforts of Democrats to reject what they accuse is Trump’s corrupt use of his pardoning power for Stone. .
One of the bills, drafted by Speaker of the Intelligence Chamber, Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, would make it a crime for pardons to be issued in exchange for something of value, such as a violation of bribery statutes. Schiff’s bill would also require evidence to be provided to Congress if a president uses pardon powers in cases involving the president or the family of a president, or in cases of obstruction of Congress.
The second bill, from Judicial Chamber President Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, would suspend the federal crime limitation statute for a practicing president, a response to the Justice Department legal opinion that a President-in-Office cannot be charged.
Democrats also plan to offer an amendment to Schiff’s bill by Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, which states that presidents do not have the ability to issue pardons.
“We have never had an attempt by the president to forgive himself, and no president has come close to that point, but with Donald Trump anything is possible, and we want to make it completely clear that our understanding of the Constitution is that it does not include the possibility of the president forgive himself, “Raskin said in an interview.
Of course, both bills have virtually zero chance of being passed in the Republican-led Senate, and even less chance of Trump passing them. And the measures would surely face legal challenges on the grounds that Congress does not have the authority to restrict the President’s constitutional powers of forgiveness.
However, the legislation was debated Thursday by the Judiciary Committee in response to Trump’s commutation of Stone, who was convicted of seven charges, including lying to Congress and witness tampering, as part of Russia’s investigation of the former special adviser Robert Mueller. Democrats denounced Stone’s leniency as an abuse of power, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi promised to respond with legislation, saying Congress “would take steps to avoid this type of blatant wrongdoing.”
“People should know that it’s not just about lying to Congress. That means lying to the American people, the manipulation of witnesses and the rest, it’s about our national security,” Pelosi said on CNN’s “State of the Union” earlier this month.
Trump has argued that Stone’s prosecution was politically motivated. He tweeted after issuing the commutation that Stone was “the target of an illegal witch hunt that should never have taken place.”
Republican House of Representatives leaders backed Trump’s decision, and Republicans offered amendments Thursday to delay Democrats’ legislation, including including vice presidents in legislation suspending the statute of limitations, an implicit attack on Trump’s opponent. Trump 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden.
“I think the president did the right thing and has the right to do it,” House of Representatives minority leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, told reporters last week.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, accused Democrats of “wasting the critical committee’s business days to take political blows on the president.”
“I’m not sure what imaginary crimes this bill would address, and I’m also not sure Democrats know that. But they are convinced that there is something somewhere, if they keep looking hard enough,” Jordan said.
Last year, Schiff introduced his legislation requiring that evidence be handed over to Congress on pardons where the case involved a president or family members. Since Stone’s commutation, she worked with the House Judiciary Committee to update the bill that would also make pardons in exchange for something of value in violation of the bribery statutes.
“The president has constitutional authority to grant pardons and commutations, but that power is not unlimited, and was provided to remedy injustices, not to cover up a president or protect him from possible criminal liability,” Schiff said in a statement.
In addition to Stone’s commutation, the Nadler bill points to the long-term frustration Democrats have voiced over the Mueller report and other federal investigations involving the President: that the special counsel never considered accusing Trump of obstruction of justice due to the opinion of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel that sitting presidents cannot be charged.
“It is necessary … simply to pause the statute of limitations so that the president, any president, can be held accountable for his actions and ensure that the presidency is not a free card out of jail,” Nadler said.
This story has been updated with additional developments on Thursday.
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