“How can one legally bestow a pardon ... for a crime which has not resulted in a conviction, anyway?”
Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon yet Nixon was not convicted of any crime.
Very good.....was Nixon a U.S. Citizen at the time he was pardoned?
see, that was my thought running_dog.
He could unilaterally attempt to grant pardon and amnesty for all past crimes....granting them (or trying to) citizenship and/or residency.
I dunno. It’d be a hellstorm for sure, but I wonder if he’d dare...just like I wonder if the Demon-rats will try to give him 3 more justices on SCOTUS during a lameduck...or the pardons he’ll grant in his last days in office.