If tRump pardons himself, Biden can unpardon him by Executive Order.

T

Tacomaman

Verified User
There are a few things that need to be cleared up regarding pardons.

First, the power of the Presidential pardon is not absolute. If it can be proven that tRump received a "quid pro quo" for a pardon, he will be guilty of a crime.

A pardon does NOT expunge a criminal record. Those convicted will ALWAYS be considered criminals by court record.

The power to pardon for future crimes (as in Ford's pardon of Nixon) has never been challenged in court. As such, tRump's expected pardon of his kids could be meaningless.

A president's power to pardon himself has never been challenged in court. While Nixon's counsel determined that Nixon could pardon himself, the DOJ determined that Nixon could not.

Lastly, there is nothing that would prevent President Biden from "unpardoning" tRump by Executive Order and then letting the Courts decide the issue.
 
PoliTalker said:
An unpardon would be interesting to say the least, but I doubt Biden would do that. Not his style.
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Presidents do not have the power to "unpardon." An executive order is to carry out federal law or the Constitution and that does not apply.
 
Editorial Board

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The Opinions Essay

2020 in Review



If Trump pardons himself, Biden should "unpardon" him.

At the end of most presidencies, one of the last things a president does is issue pardons. Will President Trump attempt to pardon himself and his family? (The Washington Post)

Opinion by*Ken Gormley

Dec. 18, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. EST

Ken Gormley is an expert on the Constitution, the presidency and the pardon power. He is president of Duquesne University.

If President Trump makes the ill-advised decision to try to pardon himself before he leaves the White House in January, incoming president Joe Biden should respond with another unprecedented step: He should “un-pardon” his predecessor.

That might sound strange, even extra-constitutional. Certainly, there’s nothing in the words of the Constitution or in historical precedent that speaks of undoing a self-pardon — but that’s because there’s nothing that authorizes a self-pardon in the first place. The Constitution’s text, its original meaning and historical precedent all point strongly against the validity of a self-pardon.

In part because it’s unlikely that the legitimacy of such an audacious act would be determined in court, it’s important for the new president, with the advice of his Justice Department, to take a stand against this dangerous precedent.

The Framers of the Constitution gave the chief executive enormous discretion in wielding pardons. Presidents have used this sprawling power to pardon political allies (George H.W. Bush pardoned former defense secretary*Caspar Weinberger), and even family members (President Bill Clinton*pardoned*his half-brother, Roger Clinton). The pardon power permits the president to pardon individuals of all past federal crimes, and even crimes that have not been specified. If Trump chooses to pardon his children or any other person within his orbit, he can do it.

But no president has ever tried to issue a self-pardon, for good reason. Taking a pardon for oneself constitutes an act of self-dealing, running counter to the clear text that says presidents can “grant” pardons, which implies a grant to others. It also runs counter to the landmark holding of*United States v. Nixon, the Watergate tapes case, in which Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote for a unanimous court that not even the president is above the law.

In 1974, President Richard M. Nixon’s own Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion stating that Nixon could not pardon himself,*based upon*“the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.” Likely for that reason, Nixon never pardoned himself.

If Trump were to try to take that step, presumably under the theory that Democrats will retaliate against him, Biden should first refer the question to the Office of Legal Counsel. If the OLC in 2021 concurs with the precedent of that office in 1974 — which is highly likely — this legal opinion would constitute a second piece of guidance shoring up the position that self-pardons are inherently unconstitutional. It would provide a basis for President Biden to then issue an executive order nullifying Trump’s action.
 
I doubt Trump would try a self pardon.

But when Biden takes office he would take it to the Department of Justice which would most likely rule it invalid and unconstitutional.
 
Biden would not do that. He is trying to get back to normalcy. Playing Trump's reindeer games will not get us back to adult governance.
 
He will pardon himself

Then we can make laws to say he can’t


Then the states will try him for his crimes


A fitting end to the (states rights) fake ass Republican Party that claims to be for states rights
 
evince said:
He will pardon himself

Then we can make laws to say he can’t


Then the states will try him for his crimes


A fitting end to the (states rights) fake ass Republican Party that claims to be for states rights
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Given tRump's massive ego, his hunger for absolute power and the support from the galatically stupid, it is hard to imagine him not self pardoning.
 
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Nordberg said:
As bad as Nixon was, Trump is much worse. He does not even know what powers he has or does not have, although the pardoning power was one he had lawyers look into immediately. He saw a future use in that one.
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It gives incentive for a President to commit crimes and tell his associates he will pardon them.
 
Nordberg said:
As bad as Nixon was, Trump is much worse. He does not even know what powers he has or does not have, although the pardoning power was one he had lawyers look into immediately. He saw a future use in that one.
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Nixon is George Washington compared to CorruptRump.
 
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