--- title: Can President Trump Pardon Himself? Brett Kavanaugh Won't Say | TIME description: Judge Brett Kavanaugh declined to answer two questions from Democratic senators related to presidential investigations during his confirmation hearing — if a president should comply with a subpoena and if he has the ability to self-pardon. canonical: https://time.com/video/UUpvGsb3/ og:title: Can President Trump Pardon Himself? Brett Kavanaugh Won't Say og:description: Judge Brett Kavanaugh declined to answer two questions from Democratic senators related to presidential investigations during his confirmation hearing — if a president should comply with a subpoena and if he has the ability to self-pardon. og:url: https://time.com/video/UUpvGsb3/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UUpvGsb3/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Can President Trump Pardon Himself? Brett Kavanaugh Won't Say twitter:description: Judge Brett Kavanaugh declined to answer two questions from Democratic senators related to presidential investigations during his confirmation hearing — if a president should comply with a subpoena and if he has the ability to self-pardon. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UUpvGsb3/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Can President Trump Pardon Himself? Brett Kavanaugh Won't Say > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Can President Trump Pardon Himself? Brett Kavanaugh Won't Say [Watch (HLS stream): Can President Trump Pardon Himself? Brett Kavanaugh Won't Say](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UUpvGsb3.m3u8) (2:18)  _Published 2018-09-05. Judge Brett Kavanaugh declined to answer two questions from Democratic senators related to presidential investigations during his confirmation hearing — if a president should comply with a subpoena and if he has the ability to self-pardon._ --- Jul 28, 2023 12:30 AM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [President Trump Calls the Allegations Against Brett Kavanaugh 'Totally Political'](/video/aFIQfXVR/) ### President Trump Calls the Allegations Against Brett Kavanaugh 'Totally Political' [Trump Says Brett Kavanaugh Is A "Fine Fine Person"](/video/O0G8qA35/) ### Trump Says Brett Kavanaugh Is A "Fine Fine Person" [President Trump Picked Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. Who Is He?](/video/4WN7bxMA/) ### President Trump Picked Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. Who Is He? --- ## Transcript Can a sitting president be required to respond to a subpoena? So that's a hypothetical question about what would be an elaborationary difference from US [ UNKNOWN ] Nixen's precise holding, and I think Going with the Justice Ginsburg principle. Which is really not the Justice Ginsburg alone principle it's everyones principle on the current supreme court. And it's a matter of the canons of judicial independence. I can't give you an answer on that hypothetical question. So you can't give me an answer on whether a president has to Respond to subpoena from a court of law. As my, there's, my understanding is that you're asking me to give my view on a potential hypothetical and that's something that every, each of the [ UNKNOWN ] justices currently sitting on the supreme court when they are sitting in my seat, declined to Decide potential hyperthetical cases. Trump claims he has an absolute right to pardon himself. Does he? Now the question of self pardons is something I have never analysed. It's a question that I have not written about. It's a question, therefore, that's a hypothetical question. That I can't begin to answer What about. in this context as a sitting judge and as a nominee to the Supreme Court. And the other half of that is the obvious one does a president have the ability to pardon somebody In exchange for a promise for that person, they wouldn't testify against him. Sir, I'm not gonna answer hypothetical questions of that sort. And there's a good reason for it when we get, Judges don't, when we decide we get briefs and arguments to the parties. We have a record. We have an appendix with all the information. We have amicus briefs, I never decide anything alone. I'm in a panel of three and if I'm confirmed to the Supreme Court I'll be on a team of nine. Thank you Mr. Chairman I hope for the sake of the country that remains a hypothetical question. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Can President Trump Pardon Himself? 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