(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Rep. Jamie Raskin joined every Democratic Member of the House Judiciary Committee in sending a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, urging him to hold hearings on Trump’s threat to abuse his pardon power.

In their letter to Chairman Goodlatte, the Members wrote, “As you know, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has directly implicated several of President Trump’s closest advisors—including Mr. Flynn, who has pleaded guilty to a single count of lying to the FBI and pledged to cooperate with the investigation as it moves forward.  

“The Committee must anticipate the possibility that, as the investigation develops, it may further implicate additional White House officials, the President’s family, and perhaps even the President himself.  President Trump, by sending a signal that he may pardon Michael Flynn and perhaps others willing to assist Mr. Mueller, has raised serious concerns about obstruction of justice and abuse of the pardon power…

“The issue of abuse of the pardon power need not be a partisan issue.  In fact, in 2001, our Committee held a hearing on the question of President Bill Clinton’s use of the pardon power.  We ask for the same type of forum to discuss both the Arpaio pardon and the President’s stated willingness to consider pardoning Mr. Flynn and perhaps others implicated in the Russia investigation.”

The letter was signed by every Democratic Member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, including: Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Karen Bass (D-CA), Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), David Cicilline (D-RI), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Brad Schneider (D-IL). 

Full text of the letter to the House Judiciary Committee Chairman is available here.

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