If Trump is elected, Obama may very well issue pardons to all his staff.
Can he pardon himself?
I think Ford's precedent setting pardon of Nixon, before he had been found guilty of anything, opened this can of worms where government can pardon itself ahead of time for any potential wrong doing. I do not think the founders had this abuse of power in mind when they included this power in Art II, Section 2.
If they did, then the Congress must immediately impeach any government entities they wish to insulate from the president's pardoning power.
Trump 'em.
Mr. Trump will not be shy about testing that power regarding pardons that seem illegitimate. Ford pardoned Nixon, but nobody was getting ready to attempt to prosecute him for anything, so the question arose whether it was even really a pardon at all.
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Ford’s pardon set no precedent; it was a message to congress to bugg-off.
A pardon without a conviction is a chimera.
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It seems that if that was the case, Nixon would've issued himself a blanket pardon. On the other hand, Nixon DID have some scruples and integrity, which 0bama clearly lacks.