On September 8th, 1974 President Gerald Ford pardoned President Richard Nixon for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. He's the only president to be pardoned. But what exactly is *** pardon? And what can we learn from Nixon's situation to understand possible outcomes for former President Donald Trump. This is clarified article two section two clause, one of the constitution declared that presidents shall have the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States. According to the Department of Justice, *** presidential pardon is the expression of the president's forgiveness. *** presidential pardon is something that um, the president gives to someone to relieve them of the consequences of crime that could be before the crime has been charged before *** conviction. It can prevent there being *** trial in the first place. Typically presidents pardoned *** person who is convicted by the United States district courts, the military court martial and the superior court of DC. There are only two limits to *** president's pardoning power. They cannot pardon local or state offenses and they cannot pardon cases of presidential impeachments. But wait *** minute, wasn't Nixon facing charges of impeachment? Here's what you need to know about Nixon's impeachment process and how he was able to be pardoned. In 1971. Nixon orders for *** secret taping system in the oval office and other executive office bases on June 17th. 1972 5 men are arrested after breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel May 9th, 1974 impeachment proceedings begin against Nixon. August 5th, 1974. The smoking gun tapes reveal Nixon's involvement in the Watergate cover up August 8th, 1974. Nixon resigns on national television on September 8th, 1974 President Ford pardons Nixon for any offenses he might have committed against the United States. Nixon was in *** lot of trouble. He was about to be impeached. The votes were there? The House Judiciary Committee had approved articles of impeachment. The House was going to impeach the Senate was going to convict him again. The votes were there they counted and, and so that's why when they went and told him that he resigned. The pardon power doesn't affect impeachment. It's specifically separated out. So pardons are for the, the criminal law side and impeachment. The constitution defines that as separate. So the, the pardon power can't touch, can't undo, can't preempt an impeachment. Nixon left the office disgraced and many Americans were angry with Ford's decision. Some speculated that the two made an agreement when Ford came to office. Ford wanted the nation to move on from Watergate and he felt that Nixon had suffered enough. He had lost the presidency, which is *** pretty big deal. No one else had ever had to resign before Ford. The new president gave him *** full and unconditional pardon for anything that Nixon had done while President, there is nothing that federal prosecutors could do to Nixon. At that point, it closed the case. Or's decision was the main reason he was not reelected for *** second term. But that's the way pardons are supposed to work. The president has this power because he is politically accountable. And so if he issues *** pardon, because he thinks it's right and the voters disagree, then that's the system working the way it's supposed to talk of presidential pardons and events from President Nixon's Watergate scandal have become *** popular conversation with recent events regarding former President Donald Trump. Trump is the first former US president to be indicted on criminal charges on the federal level. He is charged with 37 counts for violating the espionage act, the obstruction of justice and making false statements. The FBI sees hundreds of classified documents from Trump's Mar *** Lago home. In addition, he is also being charged with four counts for attempting to overturn the 2020 election on the state level. He is facing criminal charges in New York and Georgia. The Trump case is *** very different situation from the Nixon case because Nixon was never going to be back in the White House, he was term limited. He had already been elected twice. First of all, Trump is facing state charges as well as federal charges. Hardin couldn't make the state charges he's facing go away. Presidents arguably cannot be prosecuted while they're in office. So if Trump is elected, then he could say we have to hit pause for four years and then there's no need to pardon himself. If it's on pause for four years, that maybe the statute of limitations would be paused as well. But if he was going to pardon himself, he could wait until his last day in office to do it. The foundation of democracy that was established in the constitution allowed President Ford to use his executive power in the way he deemed justifiable. Ideally, the purpose of the pardon power is to allow one last line of defense against injustice. The criminal justice system have strict clear rules and they might not really be appropriate in certain cases. And, and so it's supposed to act as *** safety valve to temper justice with mercy. Of course, one person's justice is another person's injustice.