Final days bring new urgency to Trump's desire to pardon himself and his children

 https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/12/politics/trump-pardons-children-attacks-capitol/index.html

CNN reported Monday that Trump's White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and former Attorney General Bill Barr warned him against pardoning himself, but advisors say Trump may still do it, even though it would almost certainly be met with lawsuits.

Presidential pardon power is untested and sources say both Barr and Cipollone thought it would be a bad idea for Trump to try to pardon himself. Barr believes a 1974 Justice Department legal memo finding that the president cannot pardon himself should stand, and Cipollone has not asked the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel for a re-examination of the issue, according to two sources.

The memo clearly states that under "the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself."