Apparently, there is a lot of uproar about whether or not an American president can pardon oneself for something. Many people on both Left and Right seem to be polarized about this issue. As for me, the big argument over it made me curious about whether or not the Constitution allows a president to self-pardon.

As such, I hopped onto National Constitution Center's Interactive Constitution to research into it. I chose this source because I tend to base my view of the constitution on dictionary definitions of the words and phrases in there. So, knowing that Article Two covers the executive branch, I went there first. I found the part about removal of the President from office, which said this.

In case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his death, resignation, or instability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice president, and the Congress may by law provide for the Case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice president, declaring what Officer shall act then as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

To me, this appears to be some kind of criteria for who is allowed to remove the President from office, Congress, as well as for why it's acceptable for Congress to remove him/her from office, regardless of who the President is. However, it is noted that the 25th amendment modified this into:

1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Yes, Section 4 in particular is massively full of text. However, the 25th amendment as a whole was reportedly made to address questions that were very common regarding Article 2 Section 1.

Next, I went to Section 4 for reasons Congress can impeach the president. And it seems like Section 4 says this:

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

However, I am not factoring the 12th amendment as that talks about how one elects a president and vice president, which has nothing to do with whether or not a President can pardon oneself.

My conclusion? Whether or not the president can pardon oneself, no matter who the president is, depends entirely on two factors:

Is the president being accused of a high crime?
Is there any evidence of the president having done a high crime?

And for me, if the answer to question 2 is no, then I think the president can be pardoned for the accusations, not by oneself, but rather by Congress. As for why this self-pardon thing is so big in the news, I have only this to say:

Did Trump collude with Russia to steal the election? No, Russia, and recent evidence seems to prove it was Russia, motivated the Electoral College to give Trump the victory by a margin of almost no points... by spreading 100% truths about how Hillary Clinton handled her Democratic Primary bid against Bernie Sanders. At least, that's what it looks like to me. So, if anyone wants to be mad about Trump winning, then I say we blame the Electoral College.

Now, I could be wrong, but all of the above is my best guess I can make based on my evidences and my referrals to dictionary definitions above. But still, thanks for reading this thing!

~Kyle S. Perkins~

By the way, Instead of blogging every day, I am going to blog only one day per month. This is to make sure none of you get bored of me as I am looking to learn from the mistakes that Disney is, according to audiences, making with Star Wars. Because, frankly, I cannot make all mistakes myself!