But can a president pardon himself? Well, we’ve now reached that question, six months into President Trump’s administration. The president’s pardon power, however, does not extend to state-level crimes. No president has attempted to give himself a pardon, and the views among constitutional law experts are mixed. And in January 2001, on his last day in office, President Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, a prolific Democratic donor.

Source: Los Angeles Times July 21, 2017 22:58 UTC