Republicans jittery over Trump’s self-pardon idea; he shouldn’t do it, says Senate majority leader

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, June 5, said that US President Donald Trump shouldn't pardon himself and dismissed the possibility of a legal question coming up ever.

Speaking at a press conference, the Kentucky Republican Senator said he didn't feel Trump required any advice on pardoning himself for he knew that's not something he would or should do.

He, however, refused to comment on whether the president had the legal authority to pardon himself, setting it aside as "an academic discussion".

McConnel has also stood by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has been brutally targeted by Trump for allegedly allowing the investigation into the Russia connection with the 2016 presidential election to continue. McConnel said Sessions was very popular with them and hoped that he would continue in his job.

Several Republican senators have been cautioning Trump against pardoning himself although they maintained that there was no evidence to prove the allegations that Trump's campaign had colluded with Russia in the 2016 elections, Bloomberg reported.

Lindsey Graham, the senator from South Carolina who was one of the House managers during the impeachment proceedings against former president Bill Clinton, advised the president and other relevant people not to "obstruct justice", the report added.

Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday, June 4, that he has an "absolute right" to pardon himself but said that he had little reason do so because he didn't commit any crime.

The Republicans are afraid that if Trump eventually does a self-pardoning act, it would lead to a massive political crisis.