Trump reportedly discussed pre-emptive pardon for 3 children, Giuliani [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• There were beliefs that President Donald Trump might grant a preemptive pardon for his family and allies.
• As long as he or she already committed potential misconduct, a pardon can be given to him/her before being investigated, charged, or convicted.
• Presidential pardons have been exercised by former US presidents.

Rumors surfaced that before he leaves the White House, President Donald Trump might issue pardons for family members and other allies. Would it be legal to pardon someone who is not yet charged with a crime? Apparently, it can, per the US Constitution.

Dating back to 1866, the Supreme Court ruled that the presidential pardon applies “to every offense known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment.”

Basically, it meant that a pardon could be granted to someone before he or she is going to be investigated, charged, or convicted.

According to the Constitution, the fundamental law that gives the authority, a president “shall have the power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States.”

With that, a pardon can cover something that has been made that could potentially be a federal offense. This means that a pardon is applicable to past and present misconduct, as long as the act was already committed.

According to Washington lawyer and former pardon attorney at the Justice Department Samuel Morison, a presidential pardon can technically be applied to anything an individual might have committed, whatever deed it may be.

“The limits on the pardon power have to be found in the Constitution, and the only limit the Supreme Court has ever recognized is you have to have committed the offense,” Morison noted.

Pardons can be applied to a wide scheme of things. Like for instance, Trump’s recent granting of pardon to his former national security adviser Michael Flynn applies to his felony of making false statements, and “any and all possible offenses arising out of facts and circumstances known to, identified by, or in any manner related to” former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

During the civil war, President Andrew Johnson authorized a pardon to everyone involved with the Confederacy. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter granted full pardons to men who bypassed the military draft during the Vietnam War. And the most popular amnesty ever given was by President Gerald Ford, who granted former President Richard Nixon a “full, free, and absolute pardon” from his Watergate scandal case which led to his resignation.

Source: NBC News