> Non-us citizen nor lawyer, but doesn't a pardon require a conviction? No, Nixon wasn't convicted either. He received a pardon nonetheless. Accepting a pardon

> Non-us citizen nor lawyer, but doesn't a pardon require a conviction? No, Nixon wasn't convicted either. He received a pardon nonetheless. Accepting a pardon implies though an admission of guilt. > Does _anything_ obligates the President to pardon anyone? AFAIK, not in the strict sense of the word. In the looser sense, public opinion. > And why would those points you listed invalidate a pardon? It would at most, because it influences public opinion. But technically, all those are reasons, why there is a pardon. The law may say he is guilty, but there might be overruling concerns at hand.