If President Trump won a second term, he could not pardon himself for the convictions he received in New York.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is facing bipartisan calls to pardon former President Donald Trump for his recent felony convictions, a scenario she has signaled is unlikely to happen.
President Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime after a 12-person New York jury returned a guilty verdict in a highly controversial trial stemming from a payment made to an adult film actress before the 2016 election. He pleaded not guilty and dismissed the roughly seven-week proceeding as a “rigged” and “very unfair” scheme to undermine his reelection campaign.
If President Trump won a second term, he could pardon himself if convicted in his two federal cases, but not for the convictions he received in New York.
The U.S. Constitution limits the presidential pardon authority to “offenses against the United States,” meaning that the president may only pardon federal offenses and offenses adjudicated in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in the name of the United States. That leaves Ms. Hochul as the sole person with the power to pardon the convictions and subsequent sentences.
Rep. Nick