Obama probably pardoned himself, Biden, Rice, Brennan, HRC, and others.
It's why Trump tweeted that he could pardon himself back in 2017.
He was trolling Hussein.
This
Most pardons are not secret because the whole point is to expunge the record.
But secret/pocket pardons would be useful insurance in case the crimes ever tried to be prosecuted.
Still unclear whether a president could pardon himself.
Never been tested or ruled on by SC.
I'm assuming this could would probably support Obama on that issue.
Because Rich couldn't come back into the country without making the pardons public.
That's not how this works.
The presidents power to pardon is plenary… pretty much absolute.
With th except of impeachment situations, any law that tried to limit his power would be unconstitutional.
Dude, the presidents power to pardon is explicitly in the constitution.
It literally trumps any attempt to limit it.
Do some research.
Although there are formal procedures and guidelines in place for a presidential pardon or commutation, the President is not bound by these rules and may issue clemency in accordance with the powers granted by the Constitution.
https://litigation.findlaw.com/legal-system/presidential-pardon-power-and-its-limits.html
I addressed that most pardons have to become public because there are processes and procedures for letting people out of jail or back into the country (for instance).
How was Marc Rich going to take advantage of a secret pardon? That makes new sense.
But there is no procedural reason a secret pardon would need to be public until such time as it was actually needed, like to fend off an indictment.
And it could still be recorded as sealed until such time as necessary.
It's not that there would be zero papaerwork.