“Ford’s pardon of Nixon probably adiosed that.”
Ford’s pardon of Nixon was never challenged, and was just as invalid to the extent it pardoned unspecified crimes.
The President can issue ‘blanket’ pardons which do not state an exact crime.
Ford’s pardon of Nixon for ‘any crimes he may have committed as President.’ Ford had a copy of Burdick vs. United States in his wallet when granting Nixon a pardon.
The pardon in Burdick vs. United States which pardoned a reporter from every possible crime that they wanted him to testify upon so that he couldn’t plead the Fifth. It reads:
‘Now, therefore, be it known, that I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, in consideration of the premises, divers other good and sufficient reasons me thereunto moving, do hereby grant unto the said George Burdick a full and unconditional pardon for all offenses against the United States which he, the said George Burdick, has committed or may have committed, or taken part in, in connection with the securing, writing about, or assisting in the publication of the information so incorporated in the aforementioned article, and in connection with any other article, matter, or thing concerning which he may be interrogated in the said grand jury proceeding, thereby absolving him from the consequences of every such criminal act.”
Clearly, no particular crime is listed. There is a locus, however, that provides some limitation in the Burdick case. But it prevents a hostile prosecutor from searching around for something in the laws to catch him on like a cheesehead.
..... in Connecticut Board of Pardons v. Dumschat, the court emphasized that pardons “have not traditionally been the business of courts; as such, they are rarely, if ever, appropriate subjects for judicial review.”
The broad and largely unreviewable pardon power outlined in the Supreme Court’s cases means that the president has significant leeway to pardon, for example, family members or close associates such as former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani — although neither Giuliani nor any Trump family members have been charged with any crimes.
A presidential pardon applies only to federal offenses, so it would leave open the possibility that anyone pardoned could still face charges in state court.
until it’s challenged, it’s valid...regardless of whether it is or isn’t.