BEHIND THE BUSHES

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COULD BUSH PARDON HIMSELF?

YAHOO ANSWERS - Let's say it was a Capital crime. And let's say the
whole cabinet was in on it. Could the president pardon his whole
cabinet, resign, and then the Vice-President (now president) pardon him?


No one really knows the answer because it has never happened and been
litigated. However, the majority view is that a president can pardon
himself (assuming he does so prior to impeachment). Art. II Sec. 2 of
the Constitution states, in part, that the president "shall have Power
to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States,
except in Cases of Impeachment." The purpose of this clause was to
insure the separation of powers by preventing the courts from using the
law as a legal blackmail against the president. . . There is a minority
view that the president cannot pardon himself.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006032708258

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