II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4933 

To provide increased oversight of certain pardons, to clarify the applicability 

of bribery prohibitions to pardons and commutations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 1, 2020 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CASEY, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide increased oversight of certain pardons, to clarify 

the applicability of bribery prohibitions to pardons and 

commutations, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abuse of the Pardon 

5 Prevention Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OVERSIGHT RELATING 

7 TO CERTAIN PARDONS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) COVERED OFFENSE.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 offense’’ means— 

3 (A) an offense against the United States 

4 that arises from an investigation in which the 

5 President, or a relative of the President, is a 

6 target, subject, or witness; 

7 (B) an offense under section 192 of title 2, 

8 United States Code; or 

9 (C) an offense under section 1001, 1505, 

10 1512, or 1621 of title 18, United States Code, 

11 provided that the offense occurred in relation to 

12 a Congressional proceeding or investigation. 

13 (2) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Inspec14 tor General’’ means the Inspector General of the De15 partment of Justice. 

16 (3) PARDON.—The term ‘‘pardon’’ includes a 

17 commutation of sentence. 

18 (4) RELATIVE.—The term ‘‘relative’’ has the 

19 meaning given that term in section 3110(a) of title 

20 5, United States Code. 

21 (b) REQUIRED INVESTIGATION.—In the event that 

22 the President grants an individual a pardon for a covered 

23 offense, as soon as practicable after the date of such par24 don, the Inspector General of the Department of Justice 

25 shall begin an investigation of the pardon. 


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1 (c) REQUIRED INFORMATION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

3 the date on which the President grants an individual 

4 a pardon for a covered offense, for purposes of an 

5 investigation under subsection (b)— 

6 (A) the Attorney General shall submit to 

7 the Inspector General— 

8 (i) all materials obtained or prepared 

9 by the prosecution team, including the At10 torney General and any United States At11 torney, and all materials obtained or pre12 pared by any investigative agency of the 

13 United States government, relating to the 

14 offense for which the individual was so 

15 pardoned; and 

16 (ii) all materials obtained or produced 

17 by the Department of Justice in relation to 

18 the pardon; and 

19 (B) the President shall submit to the In20 spector General all materials obtained or pro21 duced within the Executive Office of the Presi22 dent in relation to the pardon. 

23 (2) REPORT ON NONCOMPLIANCE.—Not later 

24 than 10 days after the date on which the Attorney 

25 General or President fails or refuses to comply with 


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1 the requirement under paragraph (1), the Inspector 

2 General shall submit a report to Congress on the 

3 failure or refusal, which shall include a list of the 

4 documents or information that has not been sub5 mitted as required under paragraph (1). 

6 (d) TREATMENT OF INFORMATION.—Rule 6(e) of the 

7 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure may not be con8 strued to prohibit the disclosure of information required 

9 by subsection (c) of this section. 

10 (e) REPORT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General shall 

12 submit to Congress and publish a report of the find13 ings of each investigation conducted under this sec14 tion. 

15 (2) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report submitted 

16 to Congress under this subsection shall be in unclas17 sified form, but may, if necessary, contain a classi18 fied annex. 

19 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT RELATING TO CER20 TAIN PARDONS. 

21 (a) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—In the event 

22 that the President grants an individual a pardon for a cov23 ered offense, not later than 30 days after the date of such 

24 pardon— 


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1 (1) the Attorney General shall submit to the 

2 chairmen and ranking members of the appropriate 

3 congressional committees— 

4 (A) all materials obtained or prepared by 

5 the prosecution team, including the Attorney 

6 General and any United States Attorney, and 

7 all materials obtained or prepared by any inves8 tigative agency of the United States govern9 ment, relating to the offense for which the indi10 vidual was so pardoned; and 

11 (B) all materials obtained or produced by 

12 the Department of Justice in relation to the 

13 pardon; and 

14 (2) the President shall submit to the chairmen 

15 and ranking members of the appropriate congres16 sional committees all materials obtained or produced 

17 within the Executive Office of the President in rela18 tion to the pardon. 

19 (b) TREATMENT OF INFORMATION.—Rule 6(e) of the 

20 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure may not be con21 strued to prohibit the disclosure of information required 

22 by subsection (a) of this section. 

23 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

2 House of Representatives and the Committee 

3 on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 

4 (B) if an investigation relates to intel5 ligence or counterintelligence matters, the Per6 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

7 House of Representatives and the Select Com8 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate. 

9 (2) The term ‘‘covered offense’’ means— 

10 (A) an offense against the United States 

11 that arises from an investigation in which the 

12 President, or a relative of the President, is a 

13 target, subject, or witness; 

14 (B) an offense under section 192 of title 2, 

15 United States Code; or 

16 (C) an offense under section 1001, 1505, 

17 1512, or 1621 of title 18, United States Code, 

18 provided that the offense occurred in relation to 

19 a Congressional proceeding or investigation. 

20 (3) The term ‘‘pardon’’ includes a commutation 

21 of sentence. 

22 (4) The term ‘‘relative’’ has the meaning given 

23 that term in section 3110(a) of title 5, United 

24 States Code. 


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1 SEC. 4. BRIBERY IN CONNECTION WITH PARDONS AND 

2 COMMUTATIONS. 

3 Section 201 of title 18, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in7 cluding the President and the Vice President of 

8 the United States,’’ after ‘‘or an officer or em9 ployee or person’’; and 

10 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting before 

11 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, including 

12 any pardon, commutation, or reprieve, or offer 

13 any such pardon, commutation, or reprieve’’; 

14 and 

15 (2) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting ‘‘(includ16 ing, for purposes of this paragraph, any pardon, 

17 commutation, or reprieve, or offer any such pardon, 

18 commutation, or reprieve)’’ after ‘‘corruptly gives, 

19 offers, or promises anything of value’’. 

20 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON PRESIDENTIAL SELF-PARDON. 

21 The President’s grant of a pardon to himself or her22 self is void and of no effect, and shall not deprive the 

23 courts of jurisdiction, or operate to confer on the Presi24 dent any legal immunity from investigation or prosecution. 


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1 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

2 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

3 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend4 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti5 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 

6 by this Act, and the application of such provision or 

7 amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be af8 fected thereby. 

Æ 


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