Sounds horrible, right? It is.
Via Leah McElrath at Shareblue:
Following a classified hearing of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Washington Democratic Rep. Denny Heck offered an extremely troubling possibility.
In an interview on CNN, Heck noted to host Jim Acosta that federal law does not require a president to make public any pardons he or she issues.
Therefore, Donald Trump could “privately” give a “blanket, prospective pardon to anyone and everyone involved in any and all activities associated with” potential collusion and conspiracy between the Trump team and Russia.
In fact, Heck ominously declared, “He could have already done it, and we wouldn’t know.”
...
A blanket pardon would protect Caputo, and whomever else Trump named, from repercussions arising from any unlawful acts relating to Trump and Russia — including possibly committing perjury.
If such a pardon exists, every single individual and body investigating Trump’s ties to Russia would lose any leverage they otherwise might have had to encourage cooperation and ensure truthful testimony from witnesses.
Ominous indeed.
The remarks came after members of the House Intelligence Committee grilled former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo yesterday for three-and-a-half hours, in what was originally slated to be a two-hour session. Heck described the session with Caputo as "probably the most fascinating three hours of time I've spent in my nearly five years in the United States House of Representatives."
Here’s a quick rundown on Caputo:
Caputo, who was on the Trump campaign from November 2015 to June 2016, had lived in Russia in the 1990s while working for the U.S. government.
He returned to the U.S. in 2000 and worked as a public relations adviser to a subsidiary of the state-owned Russian conglomerate, Gazprom. Last year he told the Buffalo News, "I'm not proud of the work today, but at the time, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wasn't such a bad guy."
Seems like Putin was always a pretty thorough bastard, but you know, if the money is good, etc., etc. In fact, according to a Nov. 7, 2016 Daily Beast article, “one goal of Caputo’s contract with Gazprom Media in 2000 was to improve Vladimir Putin’s image in the United States, as he admitted to his hometown paper, The Buffalo News.”
He's a protégé of one of Mr. Trump's longest advisers, Roger Stone, whose appearance before the House committee later this month was postponed so members have more time to prepare.
Ah, Roger Stone, another gem. Nothing fishy here! Oh and by the way, it was Paul Manaford who brought Caputo on as an advisor to the campaign.
After the House Intel meeting, Caputo gave a statement that reads like the textbook definition of “doth protest too much”:
"I spent my time in front of the committee detailing the fact that I had no contact with Russians, that I never heard of anyone with the Trump campaign talking with Russians, that I was never asked questions about my time in Russia, that I never even spoke to anyone about Russia, that I never heard the word 'Russia,' and we did not use Russian dressing," Caputo told reporters in a press conference after the closed-door testimony. "There was absolutely no discussion of Russia on the Trump campaign 'til the day I left."
Not even Russian dressing! What an ass.
Fun fact: the day Caputo left was June 20, 2016, just eleven days after Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort had their now infamous meeting with an ever-evolving cast of characters, in hopes of receiving Putin-supplied dirt on Hillary Clinton.
Getting back to Heck, here is what he said to Acosta:
But I tell you, Jim, the other question I hope that you will pose to [the White House] — should you ever get another chance to do that in a White House briefing — is whether or not the president has issued a prospective, blanket pardon to anyone and everyone involved in any and all activities associated with this.
Because, Jim, the federal law does not require that he reveal that. That could be privately done. He could have already done it, and we wouldn’t know. And I certainly hope somebody asks him at some point.
Makes me wonder: did Heck ask Caputo if he has been given a blanket pardon?
Going forward, this question must be asked of every Trump associate who appears before any congressional committee to testify about “any and all activities associated with” Trump and Russia.
![WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 24:.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) bows his head in prayer during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in honor of "the Foot Soldiers of the 1965 Voting Rights Marches who peacefully marched from Selma to Montgomery in protest of the denial of their right to vote," on Capitol Hill, February 24, 2016 in Washington, DC. The medal was presented to Rev. Frederick Reese of Selma, Alabama, on behalf of those who marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 to spotlight the issue of voting rights. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)](https://images.dailykos.com/images/385327/story_image/Mitch_McConnell_gettyimages-512088380.jpg?1491247744 "WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 24:.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) bows his head in prayer during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in honor of "the Foot Soldiers of the 1965 Voting Rights Marches who peacefully marched from Selma to Montgomery in protest of the denial of their right to vote," on Capitol Hill, February 24, 2016 in Washington, DC. The medal was presented to Rev. Frederick Reese of Selma, Alabama, on behalf of those who marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 to spotlight the issue of voting rights. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)")
