Schiff: We Need to Look at a Potential Manafort Pardon ‘As An Act of Obstruction of Justice’

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) argued the president doesn’t have the power to use pardons to obstruct justice and any pardon of former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort should be looked at as obstruction.

Schiff suggested that Manafort’s suit against Special Counsel Bob Mueller might be Manafort bidding for a pardon. He added, “I think we need to look at any potential pardon as an act of obstruction of justice, to get back to that issue. Some people claim the president’s pardon power is absolute. He doesn’t have the power, constitutionally, to obstruct justice. And if he uses a pardon to do so, that is a deep problem and would provoke a constitutional crisis.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett