Trump could use pardons to 'clean up' after Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, Rudy Giuliani claims

Mr Giuliani renews his call for Mr Mueller's probe to end on the same day a judge ordered former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort to jail

Rudy Giuliani also renewed his call for an end to Robert Mueller's investigation (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)

Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani said the president could use his pardon power to ensure the consequences of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation would be “cleaned up”.

“When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons,” Mr Giuliani told the New York Daily News.

Speaking hours after former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was ordered jailed pending his trial on fraud charges brought by Mr Mueller, Mr Giuliani offered the latest signal that the president’s legal team believes Mr Trump has broad legal authority to respond to an ongoing probe of Russian election interference and potential ties to the Trump campaign.

The former New York mayor and campaign surrogate said that he “did not understand the justification” for incarcerating Mr Manafort, who faces charges related to allegations that he concealed the proceeds from political work for foreign entities from the US government (Mr Manafort has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing). A judge ordered Mr Manafort to jail after prosecutors said he had sought to tamper with witnesses.

“You put a guy in jail if he’s trying to kill witnesses, not just talking to witnesses”, Mr Giuliani told the News.

A Wall Street Journal reporter said Mr Giuliani subsequently walked back his remarks, writing in a text message that Mr Trump “will not” pardon his associates “based on my advice and all our team”. Since joining the president's legal team in April Mr Giuliani has faced pushback for his public pronouncements, notably when Mr Trump said last month that Mr Giuliani needed to “get his facts straight” on a 2016 payout to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

The role of presidential pardons has become a recurring topic of discussion as multiple members of Mr Trump’s campaign have been indicted and Mr Mueller’s team angles for an interview with the president himself.

After the publication of a memo from Mr Trump’s attorneys that outlined an expansive view of presidential power, Mr Giuliani pushed back on the suggestion that Mr Trump might pardon himself if he were convicted. While he said Mr Trump “probably does” have the ability to pardon himself, Mr Giuliani said that Mr Trump has not committed any crime necessitating a pardon - and acknowledged it could be politically fatal regardless.

“The president of the United States pardoning himself would just be unthinkable”, Mr Giuliani said on Meet the Press earlier this month, “and it would lead to probably an immediate impeachment”.

But Mr Trump has shown few qualms about wielding his pardon powers to clear his political allies, including conservative author Dinesh D’Souza - who was convicted of violating campaign finance law - and former Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt for disregarding a court order to stop racially profiling suspects.