This week, our president took to his favorite means of communication, Twitter, and claimed, “As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?”
First, I have searched in vain to find “numerous legal scholars” who have said this. It’s just another wild exaggeration, a hallmark of Trump discourse, along with outright lies.
Of course Trump, not being learned in the law, history, ethics – or anything else except grifting – would not know the legal maxim “No one shall be a judge in their own case.” (And yes, their is correct.) Or for Latin scholars Nemo judex in causa sua – no one may be a judge in their own case, or Nemo judex in parte Sua, no one may be a judge in a case he is a party to (Latin should never be used in English, especially in law, but I mention it here to show that the maxim goes back a long way)…
