Can Cheney be pardoned now that Impeachment has been introduced?

[BR_Parkway]

Section 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

Now that Kucinich has introduced Articles of Impeachment against Cheney, does this mean he can no longer be pardoned by Shrub?

Does that extend only to a restriction of pardon on the crimes called out in the Impeachment articles or is it broader in scope to include a denial of pardon to any crimes committed?

[MaineDem]

1. Nixon was. n/t

[BR_Parkway]

5. But that was never challenged, so could it have been done

illegally? It seems as though there was a rush to reconcile the nation, not prolong Watergate. But what it the ability to challenge Ford's action would have gone through the Court system based on that clause? How would that apply to Cheney today? We still have a chance at a decision from SCOTUS that says the Constitution is clear that the President can not pardon in cases of Impeachment.

[TechBear_Seattle]

11. That is debatable

Ford's pardon of Nixon had the effect of quashing the process that could have led to indictment and conviction on criminal charges. Most legal scholars say that the pardon was at least irregular, in that precedent required conviction before a pardon could be granted. Had anyone been willing to pursue a conviction, very likely the pardon would have been struck down.

Even so, Ford's pardon had no bearing on Nixon's impeachment, only on criminal charges filed after Nixon left office.

[rasputin1952]

12. Nixon was facing Articles of Impeachment, he was never served

them.

The Senate GOP sent Goldwater to talk to him and essentially require him to resign or face impeachment. Once Nixon resigned, he was no longer under the requirements of the Constitution for PotUS.

Ford pardoned Nixon as part of the deal that would keep him from facing Federal nad Civil charges, which wold have had, if convicted, included prison time and hefty fines. If impeachment was followed through, the worst that could have happened to Nixon was removal from office...and then charges could have been brought for criminal activity. Impeachment and trial/conviction in the Senate, can result only in removal from office. Things then fall to the Justice Dept.

FWIW...there is no love lost between Nixon and I, but I think Ford did the right thing. The consequences of Federal charges, trials and convictions would have torn this country to shreds.

[TechBear_Seattle]

14. It would have torn the country to shreds, yes. But it would have set a clear precedent

That sitting presidents who commit criminal actions while in office will be held to account for those actions. Had Nixon faced incitment and conviction, we might have been able to avoid (or at least mitigate) the massive constitutional crisis we are facing right now.

[rasputin1952]

19. I agree...but looking at the big picture, I don't think the precedent

would have necessarily been good for future. The law is filled w/precedents that have proven disastrous to Justice
as a whole. Most people realize that there is a huge rift between Justice and Law, if the precedent set changed the course even more, we would all be regretting it today.

If I were elected his next election, I would use the interim between the election and the inauguration to get a crack legal team together, bring up charges to hand to Justice once I was sworn in, and have bush/cheney arrested right there at the ceremony and marched off by US Marshals. But the chances of me being elected are pretty small...

[spanone]

15. Nixon was never impeached...he resigned

[MaineDem]

18. That was my point

Just because impeachment has been introduced has no bearing on a pardon.

Edited for really poor grammar.

[tularetom]

2. It would be interesting if bush pardoned him

It would be an implicit admission that he had done something he needed to be pardoned for.

[brazos121200]

3. Bush will probably pardon all his corrupt cronies on Christmas day

of the last year of his term as his father did but faces a serious problem; who will pardon him?

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. It depends

Impeachment can not be pardoned, as you pointed out. However, impeachment is limited to removal from office only; it is not a criminal trial. Once a sitting president or vice president is removed from office -- for any reason, be it resignation, impeachment or expiration of term -- he is subject to criminal indictment and trial for criminal activity that might have been done while in office. That is why Ford pardoned Nixon: to proactively avoid an investigation and criminal trial, which would have been totally unrelated to the impeachment itself.

So Bush and Cheney can not use the pardon to avoid impeachment, but they can use the pardon to avoid criminal prosecution once they are out of office.

[BR_Parkway]

6. Is it not saying that acts for which you are Impeached are not pardonable?

wouldn't that apply to the criminal courts as well?

[TechBear_Seattle]

9. Impeachment and indictment are two separate, unrelated actions

One action -- impeachment -- can not be pardoned. The other action -- criminal indictment and conviction -- can be pardoned. While both might occur based on the same (or at least related) facts, they are separate, unrelated actions.

[MannyGoldstein]

7. He Can Still Pardon For Criminal Offfenses

Impeachment isn't (necessarily) based on a crime being commited - it's really a no-confidence vote. Bush can't stop Cheney's impeachment or removal from office, but can prevent criminal prosecution.

[Captain Hilts]

8. The power to pardon has no bounds. nt

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. "Except in cases of impeachment."

There is also a fair sized body of precedent and common law which provide informal limits on the President's power of the pardon. It would be interesting to see some of those limits tested in court.

[bullimiami]

13. i have to agree. it says 'in cases of impeachment' not just 'impeachment'

i think it could easily be interpreted as meaning all of the charges and results.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

16. I believe the phrase in question means that a president cannot expunge or overturn an impeachment

An impeachment is not a criminal proceeding. It's a legislative action.

A president impeached for murdering his wife would not have a double jeopardy defense against a criminal trial for murdering his wife.

The Constitutional language is clumsy, but merely meant to reinforce the point that the presidential pardon authority does not extend to interfering with impeachment proceedings.

It does not limit his ability to pardon someone for crimes against the United States that were cited in an impeachment proceeding.

A Senate "trial" in an impeachment is a trial in name only... it has no overlap with the criminal law. (Recall the congressman who was once a judge and was impeached and removed from the bench, but acquitted in the criminal trial.)

[CK_John]

17. Yes, until the House vote for articles of impeachment, introducing a bill is like a treat to sue,

nothing.

[1monster]

20. Impeachment is a Constitutional remedy to remove an officer from office.

It carries no criminal penalites. Ergo, I don't think that a pardon for criminal actions would necessarily end impeachment procedings.

A pardon would not have any effect on an impeachment, except that, having been pardoned, if called to testify, the impeachee could not use the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions (s/he would have immunity for the testimony) and would not dare to perjure him/herself because new charges could be filed.

[dougolat]

21. And there we go

The closest thing to accountability we could reasonably hope to see is impeachment, and the nay-sayers want to play nice and wait until these criminals are out of office!