Jun 17, 2018

Giuliani: I can't guarantee Trump won't issue pardons in Mueller probe

President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said that he's advised Trump not to issue any pardons during the course of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, but noted that "when it's over," Trump can do as he pleases in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" this morning.

The big picture: Axios' Mike Allen takes a closer look at "The Pardon Game": Trump's Celebrity Edition.

Giuliani's full quote:

"The president has issued no pardons in this investigation. The president is not going to issue pardons in this investigation. And my advice to him — you know, as long as I'm his lawyer — is not to do it because he'll just cloud what is becoming now a very clear picture of an extremely unfair investigation with no criminality involved in it of any kind. I want that to come out loud and clear and not get clouded by anybody being fired, anybody being pardoned. When it's over, hey, he's the President of the United States. He retains his pardon power. Nobody's taking that away from him."

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Trump says he will campaign against Lisa Murkowski after her support for Mattis

Trump with Barr and Meadows outside St. John's Episcopal church in Washington, D.C. on June 1. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump tweeted on Thursday that he would endorse "any candidate" with a pulse who runs against Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

Driving the news: Murkowski said on Thursday that she supported former defense secretary James Mattis' condemnation of Trump over his response to protests in the wake of George Floyd's killing. She described Mattis' statement as "true, honest, necessary and overdue," Politico's Andrew Desiderio reports.

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New York Times says Tom Cotton op-ed did not meet standards

Photo: Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

A New York Times spokesperson said in a statement Thursday that the paper will be changing its editorial board processes after a Wednesday op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), which called for President Trump to "send in the troops" in order to quell violent protests, failed to meet its standards.

Why it matters: The shift comes after Times employees began a coordinated movement on social media on Wednesday and Thursday that argued that publishing the op-ed put black staff in danger. Cotton wrote that Trump should invoke the Insurrection Act in order to deploy the U.S. military against rioters that have overwhelmed police forces in cities across the country.

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