Can a president pardon himself?

[BigmanPigman]

I was listening to Michael Steele on Brian Williams (as I was making my sign for tomorrow's protest) and he said that this pardon BS is leading up to the fucking moron's pardoning himself and Brian didn't ask him if that is a possibility. Is it? Are there any legal eagle DUers out there?

*Oops...I just saw that someone else just asked the same thing.

RESIST! REMOVE! Peace.

[berni_mccoy]

1. No. It is called out explicitly in the Constitution. "Except in cases of impeachment."

[BigmanPigman]

3. If the House impeaches him he can pardon himself?!?!?

[berni_mccoy]

4. He cannot. He has the power to pardon anyone for anything "except in cases of impeachment"

[BigmanPigman]

5. Whew! Thank goodness.

[berni_mccoy]

6. He also can only pardon federal crimes. He cannot pardon someon out of a state crime

And the NY Atty General is waiting for the opportunity.

[EffieBlack]

11. That clause means he can't use his pardon power to keep someone from being impeached.

It doesn’t mean he can’t pardon himself.

It’s not clear whether he has the power to pardon himself - it’s never been attempted or litigated - however, DOJ prepared an opinion during Watergate stating that a president could not pardon himself. Of course, Trump’ DOJ surely wouldn’t feel bound to that.

[Xipe Totec]

2. That would be an article of impeachment

And you cannot pardon yourself from impeachment.

[Renew Deal]

7. No one really knows

Though most opinions I've heard think he can't. The problem is what happens next.

[Anon-C]

10. If it ends up in the Supreme Court?

[Volaris]

15. It would be one of the most historic cases the court has heard in a century

And I'm inclined to think Roberts has a high enough opinion of his Court, and a low enough opinion of Trump, that he won't let his Court fuck that up.

[RainCaster]

8. Can a president pleasure himself?

That's all he cares about.

[madinmaryland]

16. I think trump does that every day.

[pnwmom]

9. Laurence Tribe, Richard Painter, and Norm Eisen all agree he can't pardon himself.

So did Nixon's Justice Department.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/no-trump-cant-pardon-himself-the-constitution-tells-us-so/2017/07/21/f3445d74-6e49-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5_story.html?utm_term=.9e728350cd26

Laurence H. Tribe is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, was chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007 and is vice-chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Norman Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, was chief White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011 and is chair of CREW.

Can a president pardon himself? Four days before Richard Nixon resigned, his own Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel opined no, citing “the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.” We agree.

The Justice Department was right that guidance could be found in the enduring principles that no one can be both the judge and the defendant in the same matter, and that no one is above the law.

The Constitution specifically bars the president from using the pardon power to prevent his own impeachment and removal. It adds that any official removed through impeachment remains fully subject to criminal prosecution. That provision would make no sense if the president could pardon himself.

[Gothmog]

12. Could Trump issue himself a pardon?

I doubt that Trump can legally pardon himself. The fact that we are having to ask the question is so very very sad https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/05/24/could-trump-issue-himself-a-pardon/?utm_term=.5aac3e6356f6

“We can all only speculate what would happen if the president tried to do it,” said Brian Kalt, professor of law at Michigan State University and author of the book “Constitutional Cliffhangers.” “We’re all just predicting what the court would do if it happened, but no one can be sure.”

The constitutional language governing pardons reads, “The President … shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” That vagueness is part of the reason the boundaries of the authority would need to be interpreted by the courts in unusual cases, like the one at hand.

That said, Kalt’s got an opinion about what the Supreme Court would do if Trump (or any president) tried to give himself a pardon: They’d throw it out.

Kalt’s reasons are similarly rooted in interpretations of the language of the Constitution and the intent of its authors.

For example, a pardon is “inherently something that you get from someone else,” he argued. That’s not explicit in the constitutional language, but, then, other boundaries we understand for pardons aren’t either, such as our understanding that there need not be a criminal charge before a pardon. (The most famous example of this kind of pardon was offered by President Gerald Ford to his predecessor, Richard Nixon.)

P.S. Ruckman, professor of political science at Northern Illinois University and author of the blog Pardon Power agreed with this idea in an email. “Supreme Court jurisprudence has always assumed a dichotomy — the granter and the recipient,” he said — the implication being that one person can’t play both roles.

What’s more, “presidents are supposed to be limited,” Kalt said. “The president has all of this power, but he has a limited term. If he was able to pardon himself, that would project his power well past his term.”

[Gothmog]

14. No, Trump can't pardon himself. The Constitution tells us so.

From Prof. Tribe and others https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/no-trump-cant-pardon-himself-the-constitution-tells-us-so/2017/07/21/f3445d74-6e49-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5_story.html?utm_term=.a066d8b411f4

Can a president pardon himself? Four days before Richard Nixon resigned, his own Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel opined no, citing “the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.” We agree.

The Justice Department was right that guidance could be found in the enduring principles that no one can be both the judge and the defendant in the same matter, and that no one is above the law.

The Constitution specifically bars the president from using the pardon power to prevent his own impeachment and removal. It adds that any official removed through impeachment remains fully subject to criminal prosecution. That provision would make no sense if the president could pardon himself.

The pardon provision of the Constitution is there to enable the president to act essentially in the role of a judge of another person’s criminal case, and to intervene on behalf of the defendant when the president determines that would be equitable. For example, the president might believe the courts made the wrong decision about someone’s guilt or about sentencing; President Barack Obama felt this way about excessive sentences for low-level drug offenses. Or the president might be impressed by the defendant’s subsequent conduct and, using powers far exceeding those of a parole board, might issue a pardon or commutation of sentence.....

President Trump thinks he can do a lot of things just because he is president. He says that the president can act as if he has no conflicts of interest. He says that he can fire the FBI director for any reason he wants (and he admitted to the most outrageous of reasons in interviews and in discussion with the Russian ambassador). In one sense, Trump is right — he can do all of these things, although there will be legal repercussions if he does. Using official powers for corrupt purposes — such as impeding or obstructing an investigation — can constitute a crime.

But there is one thing we know that Trump cannot do — without being a first in all of human history. He cannot pardon himself.

[Gothmog]

13. From my twitter feed

Link to tweet