[Captain Peter Blood]

I wonder is this some ploy. Would the judge, now after the fact, decide to throw out the verdict she herself handed down and let it all go just to try and embarrass Trump, then making the pardon irrelevant?

That add fuel to the fire that Trump should have waited until all legal proceedings were over before making the decision.

[alternatives?]

“Would the judge, now after the fact, decide to throw out the verdict she herself handed down”

Would Paul Ryan and John McCain then criticize her?