BARACK Obama could dish out a controversial last-minute pardon to Hillary Clinton before Donald Trump is sworn in as US President in January.
Clinton – who has been embroiled in a lengthy FBI investigation into the use of her private email account while working as Secretary of State – has not been charged with any crime as of yet.
But the White House refused to rule out a dramatic pardon as part of Obama’s final act as US President.
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Clinton has not been charged with any crime by the FBI
Obama's press secretary, Josh Earnest, remained coy on the matter when asked whether the outgoing President had considered using his executive power to enforce a pardon.
He said: “The President has offered clemency to a substantial number of Americans who were previously serving time in federal prisons.
“And we didn’t talk in advance about the president’s plans to offer clemency to any of those individuals and that’s because we don’t talk about the President’s thinking, particularly with respect to any specific cases that may apply to pardons or commutations.”
Trump’s campaign has been fraught with accusations against “crooked Hillary” and chants by his adoring fans to “lock her up”.
The billionaire’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, has not ruled out a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton’s email server.
She said Trump and new Vice President Mike Pence are “looking to unify the country, but we haven’t discussed that in recent days, and I think that it’s all in due time.”
The President-elect said during the second presidential debate in October: “If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there has never been so many lies, so much deception.”
He also pledged an “expedited investigation by a special prosecutor” in August.
The move would evoke memories of president Gerald Ford using his power to pardon his predecessor Richard Nixon in 1974 for crimes allegedly committed against the US while president.
Ford made the move to avoid a “long, drawn-out trial” which could have further polarised the nation.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/730709/Donald-Trump-Barack-Obama-pardon-Hillary-Clinton-emails-before-presidency-US-media
