President Trump is asserting a broad view of executive power. On Twitter, he called the appointment of the special counsel in the Russia investigation “totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL!” and said he had the ability to pardon himself. Whether he has that power is unclear; no president has ever tried it. His comments followed our report on a confidential memo in which his lawyers laid out their case to the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, that Mr. Trump could not have obstructed justice because he has complete authority over federal investigations and could terminate the inquiry at any time.

Source: New York Times June 04, 2018 21:56 UTC