The president likes to take risks. He also has an aggressive understanding of his innocence and the powers of his current office. So, could he pardon himself from federal, not state, charges? Yes, absolutely. But it is really New York state that is gunning for him and if he pardons himself he loses 10-20 percent of his reasonable base off the top. Is it still worth it? Maybe.

No one but the hard left wants to see a former president of the United States in the dock. And the national trauma for conservatives would be extensive because there is no healing if you pick at a scab. And could the president get a fair trial in New York state? No.

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Granted, there are even odder scenarios.

New York attorney general predicts Trump will step down, allow Pence to pardon him https://t.co/hKQ7NZBL1D pic.twitter.com/4UznODrYGf

— The Hill (@thehill) December 9, 2020

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Judge Andrew Napolitano, a constitutional scholar and not the president’s biggest fan, touches on the general topic and also answers yes, the president can pardon himself. “Most presidential pardons — indeed all pardons that President Trump has issued — have been for specific crimes of which the subject of the pardon has already been charged and convicted. Yet, Trump — never one to be restrained by precedent — has let it be hinted that he might issue prophylactic pardons to relatives and colleagues who have neither been convicted nor charged with any crimes. And Trump might pardon himself. Can he do that? The short answer is yes…When unpacked, that broad language reveals that the president can only pardon for federal crimes, not for anyone’s impeachment, and he does not need the approval of anyone else in the government.

“Here is the backstory. The pardoning power is expressly and exclusively granted to the president in the Constitution. Article Two, Section 2, Clause 1 states that the president ‘shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.’

“Trump is the subject of a criminal investigation for alleged or potential violations of New York state laws. But the existence of a state criminal probe of the president does not impair his ability to insulate himself from the legal consequences of a federal criminal probe, since it is clear that the president cannot pardon anyone — including himself — for state offenses.

“If the president pardons himself, is he acting as a judge in his own case? The answer to both of these questions is yes. Yet, the Supreme Court and history teach that while such pardons may be eviscerated politically, they will be upheld legally.”

And that’s the bottom line. He can do it. But, as mentioned, a self-pardon does nothing about New York state. There is a hard left Attorney General in New York who wants to put Trump’s scalp on her belt, thus springing her into instant heroine status with her fellow Bolsheviks. That is an issue that Team Trump better deal with, soon.