Democrat hits Trump for message sent by pardoning Scooter Libby

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on Sunday that President Trump is sending a message with his recent pardon of Scooter Libby — former Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff — that he will support anyone who is on his side.

Schiff told ABC’s “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos that he doesn’t believe Trump’s choice to pardon Libby was a coincidence.

“I think the president is sending a message, basically, ‘I will use the pardon power to pardon people even that have been convicted of leaking or obstruction of justice,’ ” Schiff said. “ ‘If you’re with me, I have your back.’ ”

{mosads}

Other Democrats have made similar comments following the Libby pardon, drawing a parallel to what might happen to Trump allies caught up in the various investigations of the 2016 campaign.

Trump pardoned Libby, who had been indicted on charges related to his leaking of the covert identity of a CIA officer, Valerie Plame.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Stephanopoulos that Schiff’s claims “couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

“The point that the president made when it came to Scooter Libby, this was somebody who had been wrongly convicted,” Sanders said.

Schiff also added that he is currently working on legislation that would require congressional oversight for any presidential pardon where the president is a potential witness, subject or target.