Washington : Donald Trump has not done anything wrong and therefore there would be no need for a pardon, the White House has said, sidestepping questions about the US president’s remarks that he has the “absolute right” to pardon himself.
Trump on Monday said that he has absolute right to pardon himself as he slammed the opposition Democratic party for witch-hunt against him alleging that the appointment of a special counsel is unconstitutional.
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is the Special Counsel appointed by the Department of Justice to investigate into the allegation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections in Trump’s favour. “Thankfully, the President has not done anything wrong and wouldn’t have any need for a pardon,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters.
Sanders, at her daily news conference, was flooded with questions on President Trump pardoning himself, after he twitted that he had an absolute right to pardon himself.
Meanwhile, the US Justice Department has said it will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that President Donald Trump cannot legally block Twitter users who disagree with him.
She ruled that the blocking of Trump critics violated the free speech rights of those users guaranteed in the Constitution’s First Amendment.
Trump’s former campaigner accused of witness tampering
Washington: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort made several attempts to tamper with witnesses in his ongoing criminal cases, prosecutors said on Tuesday as they asked a federal judge to consider jailing him while he awaits trial. In a court filing , prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller wrote that Manafort and one of his associates “repeatedly” contacted two witnesses in an effort to influence their testimony.
The contacts occurred earlier this year, shortly after a grand jury returned a new indictment against Manafort and while he was confined to his home.
The filing marks the second time that Mueller’s team has accused Manafort of violating a judge’s order in the case. Late last year, federal agents discovered that Manafort was attempting to ghostwrite an opinion piece in Ukraine even though he was under a gag order in the case.
In the latest court documents, prosecutors say that while he was under house arrest, Manafort and his associate attempted to get two witnesses to lie about the nature of lobbying and public relations work they carried out at Manafort’s direction on behalf of Ukraine.
The court documents do not name Manafort’s associate, but they refer to him as “Person A” and note the pseudonym is consistent with previous filings in the case. In earlier filings, Person A has referred to Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime Manafort associate who prosecutors have said has ties to Russian intelligence.
Kilimnik, who has denied having connections to Russian intelligence agencies, was also involved in the ghostwritten op-ed matter.
Reached Monday evening, Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said his client and his attorneys were reviewing the filing.
The two witnesses were also not named in court filings. But prosecutors say they were principals in a public relations firm that worked with Manafort in organizing a group of former European officials, known as the Hapsburg group, who promoted Ukrainian interests in Europe as well as the US.
The group’s work factors into an indictment against Manafort that accuses him of acting as an unregistered foreign agent by lobbying in the U.S. on behalf of Ukrainian interests. Prosecutors say Manafort directed the group’s work and secretly funneled about $2 million to it to take positions favorable to Ukraine including by lobbying in the US.
Manafort has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty. Several members of the Hapsburg group have previously denied the allegations.
According to the court filing, Manafort began messaging and calling one of the witnesses in February shortly the unsealing of the indictment that included the allegations of unregistered lobbying related to the Hapsburg group.
Around that same time, Manafort’s co-defendant and longtime business associate, Rick Gates, pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
The day after Gates’ plea, Manafort messaged and called one of the witnesses and continued reaching out over the next several days, according to a sworn affidavit filed by an FBI agent in the case.
In one call, the agent wrote, Manafort said he wanted to give the witness a “heads-up about Hapsburg.” The individual immediately ended the call “because he was concerned about the outreach,” according to the affidavit.
On February 26, Manafort sent the person a series of messages through an encrypted application, including a link to a Business Insider story with the headline: “Former European leaders struggle to explain themselves after Mueller claims Paul Manafort paid them to lobby for Ukraine.” Another message said, “We should talk. I have made clear that they worked in Europe.”
The witness told investigators that he interpreted Manafort’s efforts to reach him as a way to influence his potential statements. The person believed from his experience that the Hapsburg group lobbied in the United States and knew that Manafort knew that as well, the agent wrote.
Court papers also accuse Person A of making several attempts to influence the witnesses’ testimony in February and later in April. That month, Person A wrote to one of the witnesses, “My friend P is looking for ways to connect to you to pass you several messages.” He then asked if that could be arranged.
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became its members last year.
It also will be the first time India and Pakistan take part in a military exercise together since their independence, though their militaries have previously worked on United Nations peacekeeping missions, the daily said.
Li Xing, a professor of international relations at Beijing Normal University, said India and Pakistan joining the exercise represents a new height in security cooperation through the SCO.
“India and Pakistan have had many conflicts, but the SCO exercise can facilitate positive interactions between the two militaries and help ease tensions between the two countries,” Li said.
Li Li, a researcher of South Asian countries at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said many exchange mechanisms between Pakistan and India have been halted due to constant border tensions.
“It is very rare for the Indian and Pakistani militaries to interact with each other,” she said.
“The SCO is a great platform for member nations to build mutual trust, improve their ability to tackle terrorist threats and maintain regional peace and security,” she told the daily.