When Donald Trump issued a tweet reminding everyone that as president he has “the complete power to pardon,” did he mean to suggest that he can pardon himself? Or simply to boast that he can issue pardons without consulting any other authority or facing any consequences? The impact of Trump’s provocative statement – along with news…
The pardon power is limited to “Offenses against the United States” (ie the US Criminal Code). I continue to question the advice that Trump is receiving about Arpiao. We are dealing with failure to follow a lawful court order.
We should have an amendment, “no pardons shall issue before the offense shall have been adjudicated; no President may pardon any member of his own administration, nor may he pardon members of any previous administration except that 20 years shall have elapsed since adjudication of the offense to be pardoned.