Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday that it would be a "terrible mistake" if President Donald Trump were to pardon his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and that doing so could trigger a debate about the limits of presidential powers.
Trump said last month that he won't take a pardon "off the table" for Manafort, who is facing sentencing on felony convictions stemming from two cases.
"I think it would be a terrible mistake if he did that, I do," Rubio said when asked on ABC's "This Week" if a Manafort pardon would constitute obstruction of justice by the president.
"Pardons should be used judiciously. They're used for cases with extraordinary circumstances," said the Florida Republican.
Rubio said he had not heard White House officials say they were seriously considering such an action. But if they were contemplating a pardon, Rubio said, he would not support it and "would be critical of it."
Manafort, 69, pleaded guilty in September to two felony conspiracy charges in a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller. Manafort promised to cooperate with Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling as part of the plea agreement, but the special counsel voided the deal Nov. 26 after Manafort told investigators "multiple discernible lies."
In August, a jury in Virginia found him guilty of eight felonies in a separate trial on fraud and tax evasion charges.
It was also reported that he fed Trump's legal team information from his meetings with the special counsel's office.
Trump has praised Manafort and others who have apparently refused to cooperate with Mueller as "very brave." In contrast, he has blasted his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with Mueller, as "weak."
Some legal analysts have said those statements appear to indicate that Trump is "dangling a pardon" for Manafort and trying to intimidate people like Cohen who might testify against him.
Rubio said he would be opposed to Trump pardoning anyone convicted on charges stemming from Mueller's investigation. And he cautioned that if Trump used his pardon power that way, it could lead to congressional action.
"Frankly, not only does it not pass the smell test, I think it undermines the reason why we have presidential pardons in the first place," he said. "If something like that were to happen, it could trigger a debate about whether the pardon powers should be amended given these circumstances."
Rubio joins several other Republican senators who have cautioned Trump against pardoning Manafort, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker.
On Friday, a court filing by prosecutors from the Southern District of New Yorkappeared to implicate Trump in one of the felonies committed by Cohen.
Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws when he made hush payments before the 2016 election to two women alleging past sexual encounters with Trump. According to prosecutors, Cohen carried out the payments "in coordination with and at the direction" of Trump.
The president has denied directing Cohen to make the payments, although in August he said the money came from him directly.
When asked about the possibility that Trump violated campaign finance laws, Rubio told CNN "State of the Union" host Jake Tapper that "no one should be above the law."
"From the very beginning of all of this, I have said, what we deserve is the truth. No one is beneath the law, meaning no one is not entitled to the protections of it, but, also, no one is above it," Rubio said.
The Florida senator cautioned that people should "reserve judgment" until all the facts are known and the evidence has been presented. But he said that Trump should be held accountable if he did violate campaign finance law.
"If someone has violated the law, the application of the law should be applied to them, like it would to any other citizen in this country," Rubio said. "And, obviously, if you're in a position of great authority, like the presidency, that would be the case."
Rubio's colleague Sen. Rand Paul, expressed opposition to going after Trump for campaign finance violations.
The Kentucky Republican pointed out to "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd that in a similar case prosecutors were unable to convict former Sen. John Edwards for $1 million in payments to his pregnant mistress that were made by campaign donors.
"We've over-criminalized campaign finance," Paul added. He said there are "thousands and thousands of rules" and that the campaign finance laws are "incredibly complicated."
"I personally think that if someone makes an error in filing paperwork or in not categorizing a campaign contribution correctly, it shouldn't be jail time. It ought to be a fine," Paul said.
Paul said he was opposed to the entire Mueller investigation, arguing that special prosecutors are "a huge abuse of government power." He accused Mueller's team of "prosecutorial abuse" and called the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn "a miscarriage of justice."
"If we're going to prosecute people and put them in jail for campaign finance violations, we're going to become a banana republic where every president gets prosecuted and everybody gets thrown in jail when they're done with office," Paul warned.
Trump, Cohen and campaign finance: Who's right and what you need to know about elections, money
Contributing: Bart Jansen, Kevin Johnson and David Jackson
