President Donald Trump has pledged to stand by billionaire Elon Musk, signalling that he could grant pre-emptive presidential pardons to the tech mogul and other White House aides if Democrats take control of the House of Representatives and launch investigations against them.
“It’s talk, but if it is talk, we’ll have to protect them,” Trump said, suggesting that he would be prepared to take action to shield Musk and other allies from possible Democratic-led inquiries. The President said that he would consider issuing pardons even if the individuals concerned had not been formally charged with any criminal offences.
Referring to former President Joe Biden’s use of presidential pardons before leaving office, Trump defended the possibility of taking a similar step to protect his political allies. “That’s what Biden did. Under the US Constitution, the president has broad authority to grant pardons for federal offences. However, the power does not extend to state-level crimes or protect individuals from every form of congressional investigation. A pardon also does not automatically prevent Congress from conducting oversight hearings, requesting documents or examining political and financial activities. If Democrats gain control of Congress, they could pursue a more aggressive oversight agenda targeting prominent corporate figures, political donors and individuals closely connected to the president.
He gave everybody a pardon,” Trump said.
