The controversy over the presidential pardon in the United States raises many questions about what it is, the powers of Congress to limit it, and President Donald Trump's use of it, especially in light of talking about his efforts to take advantage of it to spare him any legal problems in the future.

On November 25, 2020, Trump announced that he had pardoned former general and his National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and Flynn had admitted making false statements to the FBI, a crime that prompted Trump to dismiss him after 23 days of He took office in February 2017.

The opinions of experts and commentators were divided about Trump's issuance of a presidential pardon for Flynn, and some saw that what the US president had done was a constitutional right that was exercised by all American presidents, while some considered it a disgrace.

In an interview with the US National Radio, Professor Dan Copel, professor of constitutional law at the University of Ohio, predicted that "the coming weeks will witness a flood of Presidential pardons from Trump on behalf of his friends, family members and others."

Michael Flynn was pardoned by Trump in February after admitting to making false statements to the FBI (Reuters)

Al-Jazeera Net takes a look at everything related to the right to issue a presidential pardon in the United States through a question and an answer.

What is a presidential pardon?


It is a procedure whereby the right of the American state towards the perpetrator of a federal crime is waived, and the constitution grants this right to the president under the first clause of the second paragraph of Article Two of the US Constitution, and the pardon is one of the forms of clemency granted to the president.

While the president's powers to pardon appear unlimited, a presidential pardon can only be granted for a federal crime, and pardons cannot be issued for impeachment cases issued by Congress or rulings and cases approved by the states.

The Ministry of Justice has included a specialized office for presidential pardons since 1893, which records pardon orders and oversees bureaucratic procedures to implement them.

What kinds of pardons can the president issue?


A recent study released by the Congressional Research Service indicated that presidential pardons are divided into 5 types:


1. A complete pardon, according to which a person is exempt from wrongdoing and restored to him all the civil rights he loses upon conviction.


2. General amnesty related to a specific class or group, such as President Jimmy Carter's 1980 amnesty for draft evaders to fight in the Vietnam War.


3. Reducing the sentence issued by a federal court, that is, reducing the prison sentence from 25 years to 4 years, for example.


4. The president can also cancel fines and provisions for forfeiture.


5. The issuance of a time limit to postpone the execution of the judgment in cases such as the convicted person’s illness, pregnancy, or childbirth in special cases.

What are the most important presidential pardons in American history?


The most important presidential pardon in American history relates to President Gerald Ford's exemption from President Richard Nixon for any crimes that he may have committed during the Watergate scandal, although Nixon was not charged or convicted of federal crimes, and this is known as a preventive amnesty.

Other notable preventive pardons were the pardons that were issued by President George HW Bush on Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and CIA official and director Duane Claridge in late 1992 before they were tried on charges related to the Iran Contra scandal.

What powers of Congress to limit the president's power to issue a pardon?


Constitutionally, Congress does not have any direct authority to intervene in the presidential pardon process, and constitutional experts agreed that “Congress cannot limit the effect of a presidential pardon, nor limit its application to any class of criminals.”

Other examples related to the right to pardon include President Barack Obama's reduced prison sentence for leaked WikiLeaks Chelsea Manning documents, the amnesty issued by President Bill Clinton on his brother Roger who was serving a one-year prison sentence for drug trafficking, and President Ronald Reagan pardoning the owner of the New York Yankees baseball team George Steinbrenner On charges related to illegal contributions to Nixon's campaign.

All these previous decisions were met with much criticism for what was considered an abuse of the power of the presidential pardon.

When did the presidential pardon begin?


Since the founding of the American Republic, first President George Washington used this right in the late eighteenth century when Washington granted the first high-level presidential pardon to the leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion on his last day in office.

In the nineteenth century Andrew Johnson issued a broad and controversial amnesty to thousands of former Confederate officials and military personnel after the American Civil War.

Attitudes toward granting the president the


power to pardon have been controversial from the start, and many experts have warned that the pardon was used more often for political expediency than to correct judicial errors primarily.

How has Trump used the right of amnesty so far?


Over the past four years and since his arrival to the White House, President Trump has been one of the least used American presidents to use the presidential pardon.

President Trump issued his first pardon to Joe Arbayo, a former police chief, convicted on August 25, 2017 of discrimination and immigration prosecution.

The amnesty for Arbayo was met with widespread criticism from political opponents, especially since Trump issued it early in his presidency, and his pardon for his former national security adviser, General Michael Flynn, on November 25 is the last episode of the US president's use of this right.

How does Trump compare to other presidents in terms of pardons?


According to US Justice Department data, and up to the end of last November, Trump granted the right to pardon 45 times, 29 of which were final amnesties, and 16 cases in which Trump used his right to reduce the sentence, much less with his predecessor Barack Obama, who used the power to pardon. More frequently than any CEO since Harry Truman.

Trump is one of the presidents with the least use of the right to pardon since the presidency of William McKinley in the early twentieth century, and by comparison, Obama granted the right to pardon 1927 times during his eight-year term, including 212 full pardons and 1715 pardons with reduced penalties, while the president was George HW Bush is one of the fewest presidents to grant the right to pardon, as he used this right 77 times during his four-year tenure.

Obama granted a 1927 pardon during his presidency (Reuters)

Can Trump pardon himself?


No American president has ever pardoned himself, and there is a wide division among constitutional law experts regarding the president's entitlement to exercise this right.

In the midst of the mid-2018 Russian intervention investigation, Trump reiterated that he had the "absolute right" to do so in accordance with the constitution.

Supporters of the opinion that the president may pardon himself tend to assert that there are no restrictions to this in the text of the constitution, as well as some historical opinions and statements of the Supreme Court regarding the extension of the president's authority to issue a general pardon.

In contrast, those who assert that the president lacks the authority to self-pardon raise legal arguments that self-pardon is inconsistent with other constitutional provisions.