I am not a lawyer, but I believe from all that I have read, that she does not have to be formally accused or charged. And the very fact that President Ford’s pardon of Nixon has been accepted as legal is really all that the precedent requires. The bottom line is this: if Obama pardons Hillary - that’s it. End game. You and I won’t like it, but that’s the way it is.
I hope you are wrong. We only have a few days to find out.