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Will Obama pardon Clinton if she wins the election?

Obama could certainly pardon her for anything she may have done while SECSTATE. The optics wouldn't be good, though. And pardons don't protect you from impeachment.
 
eohrnberger said:
A pardon for Hillary might be worth it if she retires from the public stage and remains in obscurity the rest of her days.
Of course that would also mean that she isn't elected POTUS.

Should she be elected POTUS, and the criminal charges are filed, well, that'd qualify as a full blown constitution crisis, wouldn't it? Kain would have to take over for her.
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As far as I recall, I don't think a sitting President can be charged with a crime - that's what impeachment is for. If an indictment is sought, it would have to be prosecuted after she leaves office. I'm prepared to accept correction on that, but that's what I recall from the Nixon and Clinton impeachment scenarios.
 
MaggieD said:
Pardoning her for her use of the email server, any possible ramifications of doing same, and Clinton Foundation improprieties that may be discovered. Why, you got more?
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That last line was hilarious - thanks for the belly laugh of the day!!!
 
Just as a matter of principle, I've always found it remarkable that the US would have in its constitution a provision that is usually the domain of kings and despots - the ability to overrule courts of law and with the stroke of a pen pardon anyone for any reason or no reason at all. Seems entirely at cross purposes to your very distinct divisions of power and checks and balances.
 
matchlight said:
He has the authority to pardon her, and he could do it even before she had been convicted of any crime. But the ultimate remedy still would remain--impeachment. Richard Nixon won in a landslide in 1972, and yet he was brought down. By the time he had served half his term he was headed for certain impeachment because of the Watergate scandal, and to avoid that he resigned.
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I can't tell you where I read this yesterday, but I did read that Obama probably wouldn't pardon her because this would be an admission that she had done wrong.
 
CanadaJohn said:
As far as I recall, I don't think a sitting President can be charged with a crime - that's what impeachment is for. If an indictment is sought, it would have to be prosecuted after she leaves office. I'm prepared to accept correction on that, but that's what I recall from the Nixon and Clinton impeachment scenarios.
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You know, I think you are right.
 
CanadaJohn said:
As far as I recall, I don't think a sitting President can be charged with a crime - that's what impeachment is for. If an indictment is sought, it would have to be prosecuted after she leaves office. I'm prepared to accept correction on that, but that's what I recall from the Nixon and Clinton impeachment scenarios.
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it was ford's pardon which ended the process to impeach nixon
 
nota bene said:
I can't tell you where I read this yesterday, but I did read that Obama probably wouldn't pardon her because this would be an admission that she had done wrong.
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Maybe. But read about how Gerald Ford phrased his pardon of Richard Nixon. It was controversial, because it was in effect a general pardon before the fact for any crimes Nixon might later be found to have committed. I may not be recalling the wording just right, but I believe Ford never directly acknowledged that Nixon had committed any crime.

A President's pardon power is as close to absolute as you can get, and it can be abused.
 
matchlight said:
Maybe. But read about how Gerald Ford phrased his pardon of Richard Nixon. It was controversial, because it was in effect a general pardon before the fact for any crimes Nixon might later be found to have committed. I may not be recalling the wording just right, but I believe Ford never directly acknowledged that Nixon had committed any crime.

A President's pardon power is as close to absolute as you can get, and it can be abused.
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My recollection is the same as yours. So if Clinton wins next Tuesday, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised if President Obama pardons her to save the nation from a long national nightmare.
 
nota bene said:
My recollection is the same as yours. So if Clinton wins next Tuesday, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised if President Obama pardons her to save the nation from a long national nightmare.
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Only to start another one.
 
nota bene said:
Sadly, it could be only a short one.
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Hmm. Sadly?

I don't think it's within Hillary's ability to not heap on yet more government corruption onto a government already bursting at the seams with it.
It's in her DNA and her poor judgement and decision making.

Even if she does get a pardon from Obama, her political power and influence will be near zero. The nation will be doing little more than marking time until the next administration and make no progress to the many dire issues it faces and needs to address.

Being fair and balanced, flipping it around, as hard fought and divisive the campaign season has been, Trump has no easy path forward governing either, but at least he won't have the corruption and multiple FBI investigations.
 
justabubba said:
it was ford's pardon which ended the process to impeach nixon
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Actually, if I'm not mistaken, it was Nixon's resignation that ended the impeachment process. Ford had nothing to do with ending the impeachment process.
 
MaggieD said:
Pardoning her for her use of the email server, any possible ramifications of doing same, and Clinton Foundation improprieties that may be discovered. Why, you got more?
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Sorry, but no crimes were committed. Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice both used private e-mail servers. That is allowed by State Department rules.
 
MaggieD said:
And even if she doesn't? He most certainly could. Would it be in the best interest of the country? Would it shake our legal foundation to its core?

Your thoughts.
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All I can say is that if Ford pardoned Nixon then the right can't complain about this.
 
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