Sure she can. And Ford proved it.
I’m not sure what exactly Ford proved by pardoning Nixon. Would it have held up in court? If you consider the implications of a blanket presidential pardon, then it would be possible for the chief executive to create a whole cadre of immune criminals who would no longer have to obey any federal law or pay taxes. The idea seems preposterous on its face.
“Sure she can. And Ford proved it.”
Those were my initial thoughts, but I read somewhere on FR recently claiming Nixon’s pardon was never challenged in court, thinking the shame of resigning was enough punishment. Of course, I am not a lawyer and I have been baffled by legal ‘reasoning’ in the past. It seems a pardon without prior conviction would at least show implication of guilt of past crimes. And a blanket pardon going forward? What then is in place to prevent Obama from pardoning Roberts from shooting Trump upon giving him the oath of office? I don’t see that as a straw man, or much of a stretch, for that matter, but again, I’m no lawyer, so please excuse my lay-person reasoning. (...and my inability to avoid run-on sentences.)