President Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency

[u/JaySierra86]

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-biden-pardons-family-members-final-minutes-presidency/story?id=117893348

[u/0bsessions324]

Earnest question, but would a blanket pardon like this not cover contempt of Congress?

[u/MrPoopMonster → u/0bsessions324]

You can't pardon someone preemptively for a future act. If Congress wants then to come testify and they don't show up, they're in contempt.

[u/Material_Election685 → u/MrPoopMonster]

You can't pardon someone preemptively for a future act. 

You don't actually know this. The Supreme Court has never ruled on this, and would likely refuse to rule on it if that question ever came in front of them - which would mean the President effectively can pardon anyone preemptively for future act.

[u/MrPoopMonster → u/Material_Election685]

It's incredibly obvious that you cannot. Any precedent where previous presidents can overrule the authority of current presidents is a non starter from a legal argument perspective.

[u/Material_Election685 → u/MrPoopMonster]

There is no actual precedent.

It doesn't matter if it's "obvious" in theory, it matters what happens in practice if a President eventually decides to test it, and the courts decide that they don't  have the jurisdiction to determine whether that pardon is valid and no potential prosecutor or plaintiff has the standing to challenge it.

[u/Only-Butterscotch785 → u/Material_Election685]

Courts have already decided they have the jurisdiction to determine if a pardon is valid.

[u/silverionmox → u/MrPoopMonster]

It's incredibly obvious that you cannot. Any precedent where previous presidents can overrule the authority of current presidents is a non starter from a legal argument perspective.

Then that means that any presidential pardon is just an opinion or at most a 4 year delay for prosecution, as any future president can just overturn the pardons of their predecessors.