Rudy Giuliani floated the idea of using presidential pardons to put an end to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation on Friday — a course of action that could potentially lead to the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

The former New York mayor's remarks came in response to news that Paul Manfort, Trump's one-time campaign chairman, will be jailed ahead of his trial because prosecutors allege he has been attempting to tamper with witnesses.

“When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons,” Giuliani told the New York Daily News.

“I don’t understand the justification for putting [Manafort] in jail,” he added. “You put a guy in jail if he’s trying to kill witnesses, not just talking to witnesses.”

MSNBC's Chris Hayes noted that "Pardoning Manafort should be viewed as no different than firing Mueller/Rosenstein." An even Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has said such actions to shut down the investigation could constitute an "impeachable offense."

Even without actually pardoning Manafort, the president could be sending a message through his lawyer to induce his former employee to stay loyal and not to cooperate with investigators.