Donald Trump Reportedly Focused on Pardoning Himself Amid Resignation Calls Following Capitol Attack

President Donald Trump has reportedly talked about pardoning himself in the last days of his administration, sources told the New York Times. Trump has reportedly brought up the idea in "several conversations" since Election Day, but it is not known if he has discussed this since Wednesday when some of his supporters mobbed the U.S. Capitol while Congress certified the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden. No president has ever pardoned himself.

During the conversations, Trump told reportedly advisors he was thinking about giving himself a pardon and asked how that would affect him in legal cases and politically, two people told the Times. Trump has long argued that he does have the power to pardon himself, and his interest in doing so has only continued to climb. The president is "increasingly convinced" his political "enemies" will target him after his time in office is over. Sources told ABC News Trump's White House Counsel, Pat Cipollone, told Trump he could face legal consequences for inciting the violence at the Capitol.

Trump first argued he could pardon himself in a July 2018 tweet. At the time, he claimed he had the "absolute right" to pardon himself. "But why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never-ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms," Trump wrote at the time, referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

The White House did not comment on the reporting. The president has reportedly considered pre-emptive pardons for other members of his family, including his three eldest children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump. Ivanka's husband, adviser Jared Kushner, and Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have also reportedly been considered for pre-emptive pardons. Trump has told advisors he was concerned the Justice Department could investigate them during Biden's presidency.

Trump has reportedly asked aides and allies about who should be pardoned. He offered pre-emptive pardons to other advisers and administration officials, leaving some who did not think they were in any legal trouble surprised, sources told the Times. Some felt accepting the offer would be like admitting guilt. The presidential pardon only covers federal crimes, so investigations at the state level will continue, including the Manhattan prosecutors' Trump Organization investigation.

In 1974, the Justice Department wrote a memo, noting that the president should not be able to pardon himself because "no one may be a judge in his own case." Most scholars who spoke with ABC News agreed on this same principle. However, there is nothing in the Constitution that says a president can't. "No president has ever tried to do that," Georgetown professor Louis Seidman told ABC News. "There is no precedent. I don't know of any Supreme Court cases that speak to it at all."