McCaskill on Trump: 'Constitution was written to make sure no one was above the law'
Sen. Claire McCaskill for the first time Friday directly addressed Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s earlier declaration that it was "an open question" as to whether President Trump can pardon himself.
On Monday, Hawley issued the statement saying Special Counsel Robert Mueller should wrap up his investigation into President Trump.
“This is an open question — courts have not said one way or another," Hawley said in a statement provided from his campaign. "But I get where the president is coming from: This investigation has gone on way too long and cost way too much. Mueller should wrap it up and present his evidence.”
Hawley’s remarks earlier this week raised eyebrows, though McCaskill, D-Mo., had yet to address the statement beyond retweeting a comment from colleague Chuck Grassley, who said the president should “get a new lawyer.”
“My opponent says he’s a strict constructionist when it comes to the Constitution. Well, all you have to do is look at the Declaration of Independence where they talk about King George’s obstructionism,” she told reporters Friday after addressing a group attending a national domestic violence prosecution conference in Kansas City.
“Our Constitution was written to make sure no one was above the law, and that there were checks and balances in our Constitutional framework. I’m pretty sure our founding fathers are turning over in their graves thinking that somehow it would be OK for the president to pardon himself.”
Hawley responded late Friday afternoon.
“Since when does Claire McCaskill care about the Constitution? She’s been running roughshod over it for years," Hawley said. "Now the only thing she cares about is attacking President Trump and gobbling up obscene amounts of money from liberal elites.”
McCaskill also expressed concern Friday with Trump’s recent economic policies and increasingly confrontational attitude with U.S. allies.
“The notion that we now have some of our best friends in the world that share those values considering isolating us over the conduct of the president as it relates to trade, that we’re in a fight with Canada, that supposedly Canada is threatening our national security — it’s troubling to me,” she said.
As Trump prepares to attend the G-7 economic summit Friday and Saturday in Canada, McCaskill dismissed the president's call for Russia and president Vladimir Putin to be reinstated into the group.
“The fact that the president wants to add Putin to the G-7 and he’s talking about bringing Kim Jong-Un to the White House .... Kim Jong-Un is a guy who kills his family to hold onto power. Kim Jong-Un doesn’t even know what a democracy smells like, much less would he ever embrace one,” she said.
“I’m worried that we are trying to curry favor with Russia and North Korea and alienating some of our best friends in the world based on our belief in democracy, liberty and freedom.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2018 at 4:52 PM with the headline "McCaskill on Trump: 'Constitution was written to make sure no one was above the law'."