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Stephanie Pell and Brian Kalt on How the Trump Indictment Will Affect the Trump Campaign and the Potential Trump Presidency

The Lawfare Podcast

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The Constitution's Limits on Pardons

The Constitution says the president can't pardon state offenses, he can't undo or preempt an impeachment. But there is another limit in the text, and that is pardons have to be pardons. The framers debated whether they should eliminate the pardon power for treason because the president might be pardoning co-conspirators in his own treasonous enterprise. So either they didn't think he could do it, or it just didn't occur to them at all that it was possible. It's not part of what the word means.

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