[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11462]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS SHOULD BE TRANSPARENT

  (Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI. Mr. Speaker, last week, The Washington Post 
reported that President Trump was considering pardoning his aides, his 
relatives, and even himself. Any of these actions would disrupt the 
investigation of Special Counsel Mueller.
  Beyond simply pardoning those convicted of crimes, the President has 
the power to grant a pardon before charges are even brought, as 
President Ford's pardon of President Nixon demonstrated.
  There is no requirement that Presidential pardons be publicly 
announced, meaning that President Trump could grant pardons in secret 
to prevent his associates from cooperating with the special counsel. 
That is why I am introducing the ``Presidential Pardon Transparency 
Act.'' The President may have the power to pardon, but the American 
people have a right to know how and when he does it.
  This bill requires the White House to publicly disclose every pardon 
the President grants. Our Founders established the Presidential power 
to pardon to protect the American people from their government, not for 
the President to protect himself. This bill upholds that principle.

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