Trump so far not planning to pardon himself: source

U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to issue more than 100 pardons and commutations on his final full day in office, but one name not on the list as of Monday is his own.

That's according to a source familiar with the effort.

White House advisers have said Trump has privately debated with confidants on whether to take the extraordinary step of pardoning himself - a move some administration officials have cautioned Trump against because it would make him look guilty.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump also does not plan to issue preemptive pardons for members of his family.

Many scholars have said a self-pardon would be unconstitutional because it violates the basic principle that nobody should be the judge in his or her own case.

Others have argued that a self-pardon is constitutional because the pardon power is very broadly worded in the Constitution.

Trump, the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice, has been trying to head off a conviction in the Senate following the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

The House of Representatives charged Trump last week with "inciting violence against the government of the United States," after he urged his supporters to "fight" the results of the election in a speech just before the attack.

The pardons are expected to be issued on Tuesday, a day before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, which Trump plans to skip.

He leaves on Wednesday morning to begin his post-presidency at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. His term at the White House officially ends at noon Wednesday as Biden is sworn in.