Schiff offers bill to discourage Trump from granting pardons in Russia probe

Erin Kelly | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee introduced a bill Wednesday aimed at discouraging President Trump from granting pardons to anyone facing prosecution in the Russia investigation.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said he was prompted to offer the legislation after Trump's controversial pardon last week of Scooter Libby, the George W. Bush administration aide convicted of lying to the FBI in an investigation into the leak of the identity of a covert CIA agent.

The Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act does not try to strip the president of his constitutional power to grant pardons. Instead, it seeks to deter Trump — and any future president — from granting a pardon in any investigation where the president or a member of his family is a witness, subject or target.

Trump is considered a subject of the Russia probe and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have testified as witnesses.

If a pardon is granted under those circumstances, the attorney general would have to turn over the case files from the investigation to the House and Senate Judiciary committees and — if the probe involves intelligence or counterintelligence matters as it does in the Russia investigation — to the House and Senate Intelligence committees.

Congress could release information from the files to the public and possibly use it as the basis to impeach the president.

"It would allow Congress to determine whether a pardon is an effort to obstruct justice," Schiff said in an interview. "I think it would have the effect of discouraging a pardon used for the purpose of shielding the president or his family from prosecution."

The bill faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Congress. However, Schiff believes it could attract some of his GOP colleagues who have been reluctant to sign onto separate legislation to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by Trump in the midst of Mueller's Russia investigation.

Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, and possible obstruction of justice by the president.

Schiff said he viewed Trump's pardoning of Libby as "the last straw," and said it requires a response from Congress.

Libby's case has been a cause célèbre for conservatives for years.

"I don’t know Mr. Libby," Trump said in a statement last week. "But for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly. Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life."

Schiff said he believes the pardon was meant as a message to Trump's former aides, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who have been caught up in the special counsel's Russia investigation.

"Why was Scooter Libby pardoned, out of all the people seeking pardons, and why now?" Schiff said. "It seems clear that it was an effort by the president to signal people in the Russia investigation that you will get pardoned if you're loyal."

Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Manafort faces a July 10 trial date on charges of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in bank loans. He also faces a separate September trial related to his work for a pro-Russia political faction in the Ukraine. Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all charges.