> Trump Promises Mass Pardons to Staff Before Leaving Office

President Trump has repeatedly promised his top administration officials pardons before he leaves office, according to people who have heard his comments.

“I’ll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval,” Trump said in a recent meeting to laughs, according to people with knowledge of the comments. That radius appears to be expanding as the president repeats the line. Another person who met with Trump earlier this year said the president quipped about pardoning anyone who had come within 10 feet.

In one conversation with advisers in the dining room next to the Oval Office last year, Trump said he would host a news conference and announce mass pardons before he left office, some of the people said. The people said they weren’t aware of specific pardons being offered to specific people for specific acts.

Trump aides have worried about losing control of the House of Representatives to Democrats in the November elections. Democrats have said they might investigate the president for a range of issues, including his control over the Justice Department, alleged malfeasance at the Department of Homeland Security and the president’s pardons themselves. The president has discussed how to thwart those potential inquiries, advisers said. The Justice Department ultimately would make the decision on whether to charge someone for not adhering to a congressional subpoena.

Liz Oyer, a pardon attorney at the Justice Department before being fired during Trump’s second term, said the offers could spur Cabinet officials and administration officials to behave more aggressively.

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