Trump warned of bank-draining OJ Simpson-style civil suits if he self-pardons

Presidential pardons cover federal crimes, but have no impact on state or civil legal action

Donald Trump was advised not to pardon himself, both by White House legal counsel and the former attorney general, and that he could face civil liability suits in relation to Wednesday’s assault on the Capitol.

Pat Cipollone and Bill Barr both warned the president against pardoning himself — Mr Barr doing so before resigning in December.

CNN reports that they both believe a 1974 Justice Department legal memo states that a sitting president is unable to self-pardon.

Separately, a source told ABC News that there is great potential for civil legal action stemming from Mr Trump encouraging a mob of his supporters to march on Congress and the violence subsequently followed.

“Think OJ,” an adviser is reported to have told the president. After OJ Simpson was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife and her friend in 1995, he was pursued through the courts by her family for years at enormous personal financial cost.

Before the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday there had been discussions about the president issuing a self-pardon in addition to pardoning members of his administration and family.

However, a pardon from federal charges would likely only encourage the filing of civil suits against Mr Trump and possibly others.

Following the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday, the potential for legal cases against him grew as many accused the president of inciting the violence — with the House resolution to impeach Mr Trump naming that as the article of impeachment that they wish to pursue.

The advice from Mr Cipollone is said to have angered the president and put the entire pardoning process on hold.

The White House counsel and Mr Barr were previously advocates of broad executive branch authority, but their relationship with Mr Trump soured over his pursuit of falsehoods regarding election fraud.

Most constitutional scholars say that a sitting president cannot self-pardon as they cannot act both as judge and jury in their own case.

The president can resign and be pardoned by the vice president when he or she takes office, as was the case when Richard Nixon stepped down to be replaced by Gerald Ford in 1974.

However, given that much of the anger of the Trump-loyalists who stormed Congress was directed at Vice President Mike Pence — including calls to hang him — this seems unlikely.

Mr Pence and Mr Trump have apparently not spoken since the incident with the vice president reportedly “furious” at the president for making him a target of the angry mob despite his years of loyalty.

Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe said on Wednesday: “I’ve known Mike Pence forever. I’ve never seen Pence as angry as he was today.”

“I had a long conversation with him. He said: ‘After all the things I’ve done for him’,” referring to the president.

Despite internal opposition to a self-pardon, Mr Trump could go ahead and do it anyway in the hope that courts might uphold it as valid.

Any presidential pardon would however only extend to federal crimes and would not apply to state or civil actions, several of which await the president when he leaves office.