pardon
Would a possible pardon of the US Capitol rioters stand if President Trump is convicted
<p>At the time of asking this question, President Trump has been impeached by the US House, but no trial date set by the US Senate. However, if Trump were to grant blanket pardons to all those who participated in the US Capitol riot today (Jan 15 2020) and he himself was convicted of inciting the same insurrection, would the pardon stand or would it be null and void?</p>

<p>The pardons would stand and continue to be valid.</p>
<p>There is a minority view that the &quot;except in cases of impeachment&quot; language in the pardon clause of the U.S. Constitution deprives a President of the pardon power after impeachment until there is a U.S. Senate non-conviction.</p>
<p>But the majority view is that this clause merely states that the loss of political office and prohibition on seeking future political office resulting from a U.S. Senate conviction in an impeachment trial cannot be removed via the pardon power. In the majority view, a President has all of the powers and authority of the office, including the pardon power, until the moment of a U.S. Senate conviction following a impeachment by the U.S. House (or the end of his term of office due to resignation or expiration of the President's term of office).</p>
<p>Neither view, of course, has ever been resolved authoritatively in the courts because it has never come up before historically.</p>
<p>Also, a group pardon would not absolve the President himself of criminal liability. The majority view (again never tested because no President has ever attempted to do so) is that a President may not pardon himself at all. But all other persons who benefit from the pardon would be relieved of criminal liability as a result.</p>
