The week in Trump: Sessions, pardoning power

Listen 00:48:58
Jared Kushner

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Monday, July 24, 2017, after meeting behind closed doors with the Senate Intelligence Committee on the investigation into possible collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Guests: Robert Costa, Domenico Montanaro, Claire Finkelstein

Donald Trump has continued to criticize his Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week saying he was “disappointed” in Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation.  Trump continued attacking the AG in tweets on Wednesday, as well.  Meanwhile, Jared Kushner testified behind closed doors to lawmakers earlier in the week but meetings with Paul Manafort and Donald Trump Jr. were postponed.  To get the latest on the Russia probe and the future of Jeff Sessions, we turn to ROBERT COSTA, national political reporter for the Washington Post, and DOMENICO MONTANARO, lead editor for politics and digital audience for NPR. Then, President Trump asserted via tweet the “all agree the U.S. President has the complete power to pardon”. We’ll talk with CLAIRE FINKELSTEIN, professor of Law and Philosophy and Director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania about the validity of this statement and other constitutional issues.

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