Well... pardon me!

Donald Trump asserted today that the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller is unconstitutional and that he has "the absolute right" to pardon himself.

But Trump added that he would have no need to issue such a pardon because he has "done nothing wrong." He wrote online that he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

"The appointment of the Special Councel [sic] is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Despite that, we play the game because I, unlike the Democrats, have done nothing wrong!" he added in a subsequent post. Someone later corrected his feeble attempt at spelling "counsel" in a follow-up tweet.

The memo was published over the weekend by The New York Times. It was sent by the president’s legal team to the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 election and allegations that the Trump campaign colluded in those efforts.

Although Mueller is a registered Republican, Trump complains that his office is stacked with Democrats whose work amounts to a political “witch hunt.”

Mueller’s team is exploring allegations of obstruction of justice against the president, a charge that the letter from Trump’s legal team argues is invalid.

The Constitution, the letter reads, offers Trump the option to, “if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon.”

The tweet this morning tweet sparked reaction from Democratic lawmakers who disputed Trump's assessment of his own pardon powers. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) shared a link back to Trump's original tweet and added, "Mr. President - you are 0 for 2 on the Constitution this morning," while Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) noted that Mueller's probe "has secured guilty pleas or indicted 19 individuals and three companies" and that "three former Trump aides have already plead guilty."

In his own retort, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) cited a Justice Department office of legal counsel published in 1974, four days before the resignation of former President Richard Nixon, that reads "under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself."

Kellyanne Conway, on Fox this morning, echoed the president’s online remark.

The letter was delivered to Mueller’s office in January and authored by Jay Sekulow and John Dowd (who resigned from Trump’s team in March). Rudy Giuliani said yesterday that Trump has the legal authority to pardon himself.

In he halls of congress, the GOP is saying: "Trump is our turd, hanging from our ass, it's up to us to wipe!"