On Monday, The Guardian reported that White House aides have done everything they can to try to talk outgoing President Donald Trump out of pardoning himself or members of his family on Tuesday, his final full day of office, when he is expected to release a final list of over 100 pardons and commutations.
"White House officials say Trump has privately debated with aides whether he should take the extraordinary step of issuing a pardon for himself. Some administration insiders have reportedly warned against a self-pardon, arguing that it would make Trump look guilty," reported Martin Pengelly and Luke Harding. "On Sunday, Trump met his son-in-law Jared Kushner, daughter Ivanka Trump and senior advisers to thrash out a lengthy list of pardon requests, the Washington Post reported. The meeting took up much of the day. The president was personally engaged with the details of every case, it said."
Another consideration, according to reports, is that Trump would open himself up to civil suits for the damage and suffering caused by his conduct if he were to pardon himself of potential crimes.
It is not known who Trump plans to pardon, but it is expected to be a mixture of relatively noncontroversial pardons for nonviolent drug offenses, as well as more politically-motivated pardons of allies and white-collar criminals.
