you might read up on the Ford pardon of Nixon to get some better info...
the next question is "Do you admit your guilt by accepting a pardon ??""
"'''At a 2014 panel discussion, Ford’s lawyer during that period, Benton Becker, explained another part of the President’s motivation was a 1915 Supreme Court decision, Burdick v. United States, which made Nixon accept his guilt in the Watergate controversy by also accepting the pardon."'
http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2016/09/the-nixon-pardon-in-retrospect-40-years-later/
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=ford%20pardon%20of%20nixon
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http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0908.html
Washington, Sept. 8--President Ford granted former President Richard M. Nixon an unconditional pardon today for all Federal crimes that he "committed or may have committed or taken part in" while in office, an act Mr. Ford said was intended to spare Mr. Nixon and the nation further punishment in the Watergate scandals.
Mr. Nixon, in San Clemente, Calif., accepted the pardon, which exempts him from indictment and trial for, among other things, his role in the cover-up of the Watergate burglary. He issued a statement saying that he could now see he was "wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate."
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https://www.justice.gov/pardon/frequently-asked-questions-concerning-executive-clemency
Does the President have authority to grant clemency for a state conviction?
No. The President’s clemency power is conferred by Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which provides: “The President . . . shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” Thus, the President’s authority to grant clemency is limited to federal offenses and offenses prosecuted by the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia in the name of the United States in the D.C. Superior Court. An offense that violates a state law is not an offense against the United States. A person who wishes to seek a pardon or a commutation of sentence for a state offense should contact the authorities of the state in which the conviction occurred. Such state authorities are typically the Governor or a state board of pardons and/or paroles, if the state government has created such a board. |
