The 2024 Executive Power Survey – Pardon Power

September 15, 2023

2024 Executive Power Survey

Where the Presidential Candidates Stand on Pardon Power

Four days before President Richard M. Nixon resigned in 1974, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a terse legal opinion stating that “it would seem” that Nixon could not pardon himself “under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.” But the Constitution does not explicitly say this, and since no president has ever tried to pardon himself, it has not been tested in court. Former President Donald J. Trump is now facing Espionage Act and obstruction-related charges in the Mar-a-Lago documents matter.

For all candidates: May a president pardon himself?
For former President Donald J. Trump only: Would you pardon yourself if returned to office, or otherwise direct the Justice Department to drop the case against you?
For all other candidates: Would you pardon former President Donald J. Trump if elected, or otherwise direct the Justice Department to drop the case against him?

As president, it would be inappropriate for me to offer an opinion on an ongoing criminal matter. I have not directed the Department of Justice in connection with any criminal case and would not do so.

No. This would run contrary to a president’s oath of office to “faithfully execute the office of president of the United States …. ” Additionally, Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, which begins “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” could throttle self-pardon.

At this point, the issue of pardon is speculative.

No, I do not believe a president should be able to pardon herself. And no, I would not pardon former President Trump if elected, nor would I otherwise direct the Justice Department to drop the case against him.

No. That is the principle that I would follow, and any president should follow that principle as well.

No candidate for president should be discussing specific use of the pardon power in individual cases. President Trump is entitled to a trial on the grand jury indictment, and the trial of the case and the determination of guilt or innocence should not be undermined by candidates promising to pardon Trump. As president, anyone seeking a pardon would have to pursue clemency through the Department of Justice Office of Pardons, and it would be handled just like any other case.

A president may not pardon himself.

I don’t know why some of my competitors in the Republican Party are proceeding from the assumption that former President Trump is going to be found guilty. And I don’t know why the media presumes the Justice Department will conduct his prosecution cleanly and not break the law or abuse its authorities as it did when it forged documents so that it could wiretap our 2016 campaign.

No. No president can pardon himself, just as no judge can impartially judge his or her own case.

I believe that the prosecution of a past president, and any relitigation, hurts our country. I believe President Ford’s use of the pardon powers offers a lawful and relevant precedent for healing our deeply divided nation. At the same time, I do not believe the president should ever intervene, for political reasons, in particular criminal prosecutions.