And if Obama is to be kept to his word, neither will former CIA Director David Petraeus, convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, intelligence contractor Edward Snowden or Pvt. Chelsea Manning, all of whom were accused or convicted of mishandling classified information.
The reason is simple: None of them have applied to the Office of the Pardon Attorney for executive clemency.
bama specifically addressed “last-minute” presidential pardons at a news conference in August. “The process that I put in place is not going to vary depending on how close I get to the election,” he said in response to a question from USA TODAY. “So it's going to be reviewed by the pardon attorney, it will be reviewed by my White House counsel, and I'm going to, as best as I can, make these decisions based on the merits, as opposed to political considerations.”
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest confirmed last week that Obama hasn’t changed that philosophy after the election. “I wouldn’t speculate at this point about what impact that may have on hypothetical pardon requests that he receives. I'll just say that the guidance that President Obama shared with you is still operative.”
Speculation about a Clinton pardon, already rampant before the election, only intensified after the election of rival Donald Trump as president. At one debate, Trump told Clinton it would be bad for her if he were elected "because you'd be in jail." Trump aides have refused to rule out a prosecution after Inauguration Day.
That posture could increase pressure on Obama to pardon Clinton, but there's no indication that she's sought a pardon — or that she would accept one if granted. While some pardons have historically been granted on the grounds of innocence, they're often perceived as a sign of guilt.
It's not necessary for someone to be charged or convicted of a crime to receive pardon. President Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor, Richard Nixon, in 1974, although Nixon had not been charged or convicted of a crime. Nixon resigned in August 1974 after the House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against him.
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