Aziz Z. Huq on the Conservatives’ Case Against Presidential Self-Pardons

Op-ed: The conservatives’ case against presidential self-pardons

The recent run of pardons for close allies of President Donald Trump has raised the specter that the president will carry out his threat to issue a self-pardon before Inauguration Day. Feared by liberals, the act of self-pardon in fact should be a far greater affront to conservatives who prize our constitutional traditions. For the very best arguments against self-pardons are those rehearsed by conservatives — including on the Supreme Court.

This may seem counterintuitive: Defenders of the self-pardon power lean first upon the sweeping language of the Constitution. Making an interpretive move associated with justices such as Antonin Scalia, they point simply to the text. With limpid brevity, it speaks of “offenses against the United States,” without excluding the president’s own crimes. Without qualifications, the pardon power appears to admit of no exceptions.

This is a rookie mistake.

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