Conservative groups influential with the Trump administration have pressed for the preemptive acts of clemency.

There's a world of difference between a pardon issues to prevent malicious prosecution for non-crimew and one issued to people you've been instructing to commit crimes

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[–] 3 points 2 days ago* (1 child)

No a pardon doesn't have to do with guilt. Guilt is depicted by a judge/jury or by taking a plea deal. A pardon can occur before charges are even filed, and one cannot be declared guilty until a conviction is made... Which would never come to be.

So legally yes, that's exactly how it works. If Trump pardons Kushner for using U.S. funds and negotiating on behalf of the U.S. like Kushners lawyer recognized he was the signatory on an account holding $770 million dollars but did not make any decisions without Trump approval.

No charges have yet been brought against him. If said pardon goes through it doesnt mean he actually did anything wrong.. it means he won't have to appear in a federal court and explain where/when he turned over access to those accounts when Trump left office(he likely never did)

But in the U.S. you are innocent until proven guilty, and in such a case... He wasn't proven guilty.

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  • [–] 1 point 17 hours ago*

    According to Associate Justice Joseph McKenna, writing the majority opinion in the U.S. Supreme Court case Burdick v. United States, a pardon is "an imputation of guilt and acceptance of a confession of it."

    According to US legal precedent a pardon carries with it the implication that you are guilty, and can therefore be refused to allow an innocent conviction. Skipping the trial also skips the presumption of innocence.

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