When a person (like Nixon) has not yet yet been formally accused, much less tried, is a preemptive and nonspecific pardon like Ford’s valid?

Answer 1

What does that mean in English?

• virtual_cleo

  Lv 7

  8 months agoReport

  Was Ford pardon of Nixon legally valid, or was it flawed because Nixon had not been formally accused of anything? If Nixon had later been discovered to be a Russian agent, would the pardon have covered that and still been valid?
  

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Answer 2

Yes, it is.  It's in the Constitution that way.  There's no clause that says that the pardon can only be applied if there has been a conviction, a formal charge, or a "formal accusation," as you put it.  It is, in fact, boilerplate for the President to pardon people prior to any kind of legal action, like when a President issues a written pardon to an intelligence agent or to military personnel for any crimes that may be committed during a classified mission, like murder or assassination of a foreign agent.  This becomes a form of "get out of jail free card" should they ever get arrested or charged.

• virtual_cleo

  Lv 7

  8 months agoReport

  I’m a political junkie, and this is news to me. Do you mind telling me your source for it?
  

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