New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that former President Donald Trump did not pardon himself or his allies for their actions surrounding the 2020 election because Trump “didn’t realize the extent of the trouble that he was in.”
Anchor Nicolle Wallace asked, “Glenn, why do you think Trump didn’t pardon himself and Chesebro and Rudy before he left?”
Thrush said, “That is a really good question. I’ve read a lot about this and no one has an answer for that. He could have done that. I think he probably didn’t realize the extent of the trouble that he was in.”
He added, “I don’t think, and I know this having spoken with people in his orbit, I don’t think he thought the Justice Department would go after him. I think there was a general sense that he was going to be able to operate as he has in the past, being able to sort of get by without having these really big confrontations with the criminal justice system.”
Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade said, “I think it is part of the authoritarian playbook of showing, I’m above the law and I’m untouchable, and giving himself a pardon is an admission of guilt.”
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