New Personal Attorney Denies Trump Researching Pardon Powers on Russia Probe

US President Donald Trump’s new lead personal attorney John Dowd in an interview on Friday denied that the president has been questioning the extent of his power to pardon criminal offenses in light of the ongoing investigations into connections between his campaign team and Russian officials.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that Trump has asked advisors to determine if the presidential power to pardon criminal offenses extends to White House aides, family members, or even the president himself.

"There is nothing going on on pardons, research — nothing," Dowd said in an interview with BuzzFeed News.

Dowd said the report was "completely false" and "made up," BuzzFeed noted.

A number of Trump’s campaign associates — now White House staff — are being investigated by Congressional committees and a Justice Department special counselor to determine if they colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election in Trump’s favor.

Russian officials and Trump’s campaign team have repeatedly denied the allegations.