President Donald Trump "probably" has the power to pardon himself in connection with the Russia investigation, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Sunday.



"He has no intention of pardoning himself but he probably— not to say he can’t," Giuliani said.

Giuliani was responding to a question from George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week about a New York Times report on Saturday that the president's legal counsel had sent a letter to special counsel Robert Mueller in January.



The letter argues against a special counsel subpoena compelling the president to testify. The lawyers, Jay Sekulow and John Dowd (who has since left the Trump legal team), wrote that the president cannot obstruct justice by not cooperating with the investigation into Russia's interference with the election because he is constitutionally empowered to “if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon.”

Giuliani told Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press that while he didn't write the letter he agreed with "about 80%" of it.



"Do you and the president’s attorneys believe the president has the power to pardon himself?" Stephanopoulos asked.



"He’s not, but he probably does," Giuliani said, adding that it was an interesting constitutional question.

"It would be an open question. I think it would probably get answered by, Gosh, that’s what the Constitution says and if you want to change it, change it."

But on NBC, Giuliani also warned that if Trump pardoned himself it “would lead to, probably, an immediate impeachment."