Along those lines doesn't he have to put in the presidential record? Wouldn't a FOIA request show what he did?
I'm curious about this as well. How would a secret pardon work? It has to documented somewhere. Right?
haha...
that would be really funny, but i expect he will pardon them.
Trump’s pardons would at least have to be communicated with the department of corrections.
Only for people who are presently incarcerated.
There is no requirement in the Constitution that pardons be public. Trump could write out the terms of a pardon, sign it, and give it to the recipient, and the recipient could put it in a safe and pull it out as a complete defense if indicted by the DOJ.
Frankly, I would expect Trump to do this for his family and himself and then have someone "leak" to the media that he isn't giving one to his family to avoid scrutiny and, as to himself, to avoid conviction at an impeachment trial and to not look like he is daring Biden's DOJ to prosecute him.
Trump cannot pardon himself. it makes no sense that the constitution, and the founding fathers, would have ever allowed this. how would you keep a president from just running amuck with corruption if they could just do that at the end of their term. that will be shot down in court.
Trump cannot pardon himself. it makes no sense that the constitution, and the founding fathers, would have ever allowed this. how would you keep a president from just running amuck with corruption if they could just do that at the end of their term. that will be shot down in court.
Not saying Trump wouldn't try the secret pardon thing, but I think the Presidential Records Act would make them public at some point.
even if not from the White House, won't there be a record for the individual's record reflecting the reason for their shortened sentence?
Presidential grants are a matter of public record, so immediately after Presidential action, the name of each person granted a pardon or commutation, along with the district they were convicted, year of sentencing, offense, and the date the President granted their request is publicly listed on the Office of the Pardon Attorney website. This information may also be posted on The White House website and included in press releases issued by the Department or The White House.
Moreover, in accordance with the ruling by the federal court of the District of Columbia in Lardner v. Department of Justice, 638 F.Supp.2d 14 (D.D.C. 2009), affirmed, Lardner v. United States Department of Justice, No. 09-5337, 2010 WL 4366062 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 28, 2010) (unpublished), the Office of the Pardon Attorney is obliged to release existing lists of the names of persons who have been denied executive clemency by the President to anyone who requests such records pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. Given the frequency of such requests, the Office of the Pardon Attorney has started to proactively disclose the names of persons who have been denied executive clemency by the President on our website, in accordance with our Freedom of Information Act obligations.