How do you pardon someone who hasn’t been indicted?
The same way Ford pardoned Nixon and Carter gave a blanket pardon to all Viet Nam draft dodgers.
Gerald Ford did it for Nixon. Just pardon the person for any actions prior to a certain date is one way to do it.
President Ford set this precedent by giving Nixon a “preemptive and unconditional pardon”. His corrupt chief of staff, Alexander Haig was the mastermind behind it.
See Richard Nixon:
Nixon was not indicted for anything. Nixon was pardoned by Ford.