The Trump DOJ needs to get indictments of those people who were "preemptively pardoned" and allow them to raise their "pardons" as a defense to prosecution. This will get the issue of the constitutionality of a "preemptive pardon" into the federal court system and eventually all the way up to SCOTUS. The issue has never been decided by a…
The Trump DOJ needs to get indictments of those people who were "preemptively pardoned" and allow them to raise their "pardons" as a defense to prosecution. This will get the issue of the constitutionality of a "preemptive pardon" into the federal court system and eventually all the way up to SCOTUS. The issue has never been decided by a court, and Ford's pardon of Nixon isn't precedent for anything - it was never challenged in court. The president's Article II pardon power IS NOT absolute; there has to be an actual, tangible "offense against the United States."
The Trump DOJ needs to get indictments of those people who were "preemptively pardoned" and allow them to raise their "pardons" as a defense to prosecution. This will get the issue of the constitutionality of a "preemptive pardon" into the federal court system and eventually all the way up to SCOTUS. The issue has never been decided by a court, and Ford's pardon of Nixon isn't precedent for anything - it was never challenged in court. The president's Article II pardon power IS NOT absolute; there has to be an actual, tangible "offense against the United States."