It may only be early December, but President Donald Trump is already meeting with advisors in the White House to discuss preemptive pardons for his adult children Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka, along with son-in-law Jared Kushner and personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Presidential pardons are extremely broad though not unlimited, and this is not the first time a president executed a preemptive pardon.
In 1974, President Gerald Ford preemptively pardoned Richard Nixon with a "full, free, and absolute pardon" that ended any prospect of an indictment.
The president's pardon power is, however, limited to federal offenses and offenses against the United States.
As stated in the US Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, presidents have the "Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
Since presidential pardons can be issued for federal crimes, Trump’s preemptive pardons may be seen by many as an admission of guilt or at the very least, introduces the notion that criminal activity may have occurred among his adult children and/or Giuliani.
After Trump leaves office, he and his son-in-law Kushner plus other allies may face a plethora of legal woes. During the Trump tenure, Kushner provided false information to federal authorities concerning his communications with foreigners without having any security clearance.
In New York City, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office is investigating the Trump Organization regarding millions of dollars in tax write-offs, implicating several hundred thousand dollars steered to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigated Donald Trump, Jr. regarding his contact with Russians during the presidential campaign in 2016, but no charges were filed against him.
As for pardoning himself, as Trump tweeted on June 4, 2018, don’t count this possibility out anytime soon. As the president himself said, he has “the absolute right to PARDON myself...”
In what may be an unrelated case, today a text is circulating virally that the DOJ is investigating a possible secret presidential bribery scheme related to pardons. No confirmation or details about this alleged investigation have been confirmed, nor have any names been released.
