I’m retweeting this one not because I agree with it, but because I want to emphasize that all of this is so speculative. What does the exclusion of the president’s inability to pardon in cases of impeachment mean?

Is it only limited when the president is impeached and removed? Clinton’s pardons were allowed to stand, after he was impeached by the House—but the impeachment cause was so trivial—& they were also unrelated to the causes of his impeachment.

I actually think that allowing Clinton to grant pardons after impeachment was a big mistake, one that went against the intention of the Constitution, & one that helped to create the current mess. But that narrow precedent stands. What about the longer history & larger question?

After impeachment, President Johnson gave at least two pardons but they were reversed by President Grant immediately afterwards. How many did he give once impeached? Can other historians pipe in?

The revised edition of Joseph Story’s textbook of constitutional interpretation, published in 1868, said that presidents cannot pardon after impeachment as such a power “might become ... a protection against political offenses...the party accused might be acting under ...”