Chunk 33: Pardon, Ex-President Trump?

Of all the awesome powers and responsibilities that come with being President of the United States, the one that often creates the most controversy is their singular authority to pardon any citizen convicted of a federal crime.

It’s all laid out in Article II, Section 2 of their Constitution, which states that the President "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment”.

That last bit is important, because, of course, the most famous pardon of all involved Richard Nixon, who was about to be impeached over Watergate when he resigned from office. It was Gerald Ford who let him off the legal hook, declaring that America’s “long national nightmare” was over.

There were no historical or legal precedents to guide Ford in the matter. But after much consideration, he decided to give Nixon a full pardon for all offences in an attempt to put the scandal behind the country, justifying his decision by claiming that a long, drawn-out trial would only have further polarized an already divided nation.

Ford’s pardon of Nixon was condemned by many and is thought to have contributed to his failure to win reelection in 1976, where he lost to Jimmy Carter.

So, knowing all that, here’s a hypothetical for you: if Ford thought America was divided then, what on earth would he make of it now? And, if he were in Biden’s shoes - on the precipice of becoming the nation’s next president - would he ever pardon Trump?

This presumes two things. One, that Biden wins on 3 November (“Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee …”) and two, that Trump committed some as yet undisclosed crime while in office.

That second one seems a given. I mean, does anyone who’s not a panelist on Fox News seriously think that Trump didn’t break a law that we don’t yet know about to serve his own self-interest? His entire career has been an endless account of lying and cheating to meet his nihilistic demands. After four years as leader of the free world, who knows what went unchecked, and what a Biden administration might uncover.

The real question is, though, what would Biden then do with it?

Does he drag America, already struggling with the triple whammy (Coronavirus/crippled economy/social strife) into another Trump scandal, or pardon him in an effort to try and bring the country together? All with the example of Ford losing his reelection bid looming just over Biden’s shoulder. (Joe would’ve seen that all firsthand. His first year in the US Senate was ‘73, Ford lost the presidency in ‘76.)

If indeed there is a new president, his one huge get out of jail free card might actually lie in the constitution: a president can only pardon citizens for federal crimes, not state ones. And you better believe the Attorney of for the State of New York is already breathing right down the Donald’s neck.