Pardon Myself

   Can a president be indicted on a criminal charge while in office? That's not clear, since there is no precedent. But there's always a first time.
   Consider this premise: No one is above the law, even the chief executive of a nation whose primary task is to carry out laws approved by Congress.
   There are some who say the Constitution is vague on this point, and the current inmate of the Oval Office insists the president has absolute power to pardon anyone, for any thing, at any time.
   Lawyers, as is their wont, argue definitions of words endlessly, and debate at equal length what the framers of the Constitution really meant when they wrote this, that or the other thing.
   As if they didn't really know what they were doing at the time.
   Lawyers are fond of pontificating, "I'm a lawyer, so I know what any given word really means."
   Here's a response: "I'm a linguist, so I know how people use words and what people mean when they do so."

   So here's what the Constitution says about impeachment, in Article 1, Section 3:
   "Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law."

   And the grounds for impeachment of a president are these: "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." (Article 2, Section 4)
  Further, there is the so-called "emoluments clause," in  Article 1, Section 9: "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States; And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."

   It doesn't take a graduate degree in communication science to understand that if any government or elected official, including the president, takes a bribe or a payment of any kind from a foreign government, or commits treason or some other crime while in office, that official can be impeached, tried, convicted by the Senate and ousted.
   Once out of office, however, that same official can be indicted, tried, convicted and jailed.
   But can a president be indicted while in office? Lawyers are still debating that, and when the question was raised in the past, the decision was to let Congress do its impeachment thing first, and if that didn't work, then let the criminal court system have a chance.
   That's likely the reason Gerald Ford issued a pardon for Richard Nixon, who resigned rather than face impeachment charges written up by the House of Representatives.
   But if Nixon did nothing wrong and was innocent, why issue a pardon? Possibly to save the country further hassle; he was out, and that's what really mattered.
   So much for criminal offences. As for civil charges, that issue was settled by the Supreme Court in the case of Paula Jones vs. Bill Clinton. And the court ruled that yes, the president could indeed be made to answer the allegations, which were made before he took office, but the court proceedings continued while he was in office.
   Now to the issues swirling around the current First Family. Reports are that the president is checking with his legal advisors as to whether he can issue pardons to members of his family, including himself, even before charges are brought. The president has tweeted his belief that his power to issue pardons is absolute.
   But as in the Nixon dispute, if he has done nothing illegal or unconstitutional, there would be no need for a pardon.
   Aye, but here's the rub: If he pardons a member of the family, that person would not be able to plead the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination when appearing before a grand jury or a congressional investigating committee. That person would then face jail for contempt.
   As for pardoning himself, either before or after any charges are filed, that would rank highest on the list of world-class chutzpah.
   There might be an alternative, however, and that would be to invoke the 25th Amendment, step down temporarily, let the vice president issue a pardon, and then resume his seat in the Oval Office.
   At best, that would rank number two on the chutzpah list.