OPINION:
As the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server continues, the possibility of President Barack Obama pardoning Mrs. Clinton is now being discussed.
For months, Mrs. Clinton has continued to assert her innocence in the matter, saying things such as, “I did not send classified material and I did not receive any material that was marked or designated classified.”
She even went as far as to make jokes about the matter to the press.
However, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan contradicted Mrs. Clinton’s claims during last Thursday’s hearing, saying that she clearly violated government policy through her storing of official messages on a private server during her tenure as secretary of state.
During the hearing, Judge Sullivan ordered the State Department to “establish a dialogue” with the FBI as they continue their investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s private e-mail server.
So, if Mrs. Clinton committed an offense, the question is can and will Mr. Obama pardon Mrs. Clinton?
Presidents have pardoned many high-profile citizens in the past, and in total have pardoned over 27,000 Americans.
Some of the nation’s most notable pardons include President Bill Clinton’s pardoning of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst in 2001, President Gerald Ford’s pardoning of President Nixon for his involvement in the Watergate scandal in 1974, President Richard Nixon’s pardoning of famous labor leader Jimmy Hoffa in 1971 and President George Washington’s pardoning of “The Whiskey Rebels” in 1795.
The President certainly has the unique power to override the federal justice system by pardoning people after conviction.
However, what many do not realize is that the presidential pardoning power “extends to every offence known to the law,” other than impeachment, “and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken, or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment.”
Thus, before being indicted or convicted, you can be pardoned in the U.S.
In fact, President Ford’s pardoning of President Nixon occurred without Mr. Nixon ever being indicted for a crime
Thus, President Barack Obama can pardon Hillary Clinton at any time, but the answer to the question of whether he will remains to be seen.
Madison Gesiotto is a staff editor for the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law.
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