There were some interesting questions the past few days about the interplay of impeachment and the Presidential power of pardons. I thought some clarification might help. An impeachment and conviction results in removal from office, bars the convicted individual from ever serving again, and can result in the loss of emoluments (such as government pensions). Once removed, the convicted person cannot exercise the power of that office. Ergo, the President cannot pardon anyone (including himself) once he’s been impeached and convicted. The exception to the use of the pardon power (which includes commutations and such) is in cases of impeachment. What this means is that the President cannot preemptively pardon himself or anyone else to preclude an impeachment proceeding or to prevent or overturn the result.

And this made me lol.

 low-tech cyclist (formerly RT) says:
July 12th, 2007 at 6:43 pm