Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh played coy when Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asked him about presidential pardon power and whether it extends to a president being able to pardon himself.
“The question of self-pardons is something I’ve never analyzed. It is a question that I’ve not written about,” Kavanaugh said. “It is a question therefore that is a hypothetical question that I can’t begin to answer in this context as a sitting judge and as a nominee to the Supreme Court.”
Leahy followed up with a question whether a president can pardon someone in exchange for a promise they won’t testify against him.
“Senator, I’m not going to answer hypothetical questions of that sort,” Kavanaugh said.
Kavanaugh calls "the question on self-pardons" hypothetical. pic.twitter.com/4uYFlePe2r
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) September 5, 2018