Monica Lewinsky calls for ban on presidential self-pardons

Monica Lewinsky has called for a series of constitutional amendments, including age limits for elected officials and a prohibition on presidential self-pardons.

In her Vanity Fair column, Lewinsky proposed six new amendments that offer her vision for a more robust democracy, including no presidential self-pardons, compulsory background checks for presidential candidates, no suspensions of the U.S. Constitution, mandatory retirement age for elected officials, elimination of the Electoral College and codification of a woman’s right to an abortion.

In calling for the ban on presidential self-pardons, she explicitly named former President Trump, warning of the risk he would pose if he were to take back the White House.

“Our Constitution is not a game of Monopoly. For the head of the executive branch, there should not be a ‘get out of jail free’ card,” said Lewinsky. “In other words, presidents should not be able to pardon themselves.”

“They should not be able to wield the most power of anyone in our country and not be held responsible for illegal or unconstitutional actions while wielding that power. We have a phrase for this already: abuse of power,” said Lewinsky.

Lewinsky quoted Georgetown University constitutional law professor Neal Katyal, who said that Trump, who has been indicted for 91 criminal counts in four separate cases, could theoretically order the Department of Justice to drop charges against him in the two federal cases.

“We wouldn’t even get to the pardon power question,” Katyal said, according to Lewinsky.

Lewinsky concluded: “So, yeah, let’s roll this into whatever adjustments or amendments we devise vis-à-vis pardons and presidents.”

Lewinsky referenced the ongoing discussion oo the 14th Amendment clause that disqualifies anyone from holding public office if they engage in an insurrection or give aid to insurrectionists.

“I began wondering about why the US doesn’t have more safeguards in the Constitution to bulwark its democracy,” said Lewinsky. “The fact that Amendment 14 is the only place that addresses the disqualification of a candidate for such behavior is—to use an erudite term—bonkers.”

Legal scholars have addressed the question of a presidential self-pardon because there is nothing to specifically forbid them, but experts are divided on whether such a pardon would hold up in court, since it would undermine the principles of a democratic justice system.

Trump is the front-runner for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination, leading by double-digit margins in all national polls, despite facing a total of 91 criminal charges in four separate indictments, two of which are related to his efforts to stay in power after losing the presidential election.

Lewinsky also called for unspecified age limits for elected office, without naming President Joe Biden, who at 81 is the oldest-serving U.S. president in history; Trump is 77.

“Not to be ageist, but there should also be a retirement age for elected officials as well as term limits, especially when you consider that long-term decisions can impact the citizens, the nation, and the world for years after you’ve served your time in office,” Lewinsky said.