I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7694 

To provide increased Congressional oversight of certain pardons, to clarify 

the applicability of bribery prohibitions to pardons and commutations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 21, 2020 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself and Mr. NADLER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide increased Congressional 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT RELATING TO CER7 TAIN PARDONS. 

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

9 that the President grants an individual a pardon for a covVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7694.IH H7694

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 7694 IH

1 ered offense, not later than 30 days after the date of such 

2 pardon— 

3 (1) the Attorney General shall submit to the 

4 chairmen and ranking members of the appropriate 

5 congressional committees— 

6 (A) all materials obtained or prepared by 

7 the prosecution team, including the Attorney 

8 General and any United States Attorney, and 

9 all materials obtained or prepared by any inves10 tigative agency of the United States govern11 ment, relating to the offense for which the indi12 vidual was so pardoned; and 

13 (B) all materials obtained or produced by 

14 the Department of Justice in relation to the 

15 pardon; and 

16 (2) the President shall submit to the chairmen 

17 and ranking members of the appropriate congres18 sional committees all materials obtained or produced 

19 within the Executive Office of the President in rela20 tion to the pardon. 

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

22 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure may not be con23 strued to prohibit the disclosure of information required 

24 by subsection (a) of this section. 

25 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 7694 IH

1 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com2 mittees’’ means— 

3 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

4 House of Representatives and the Committee 

5 on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 

6 (B) if an investigation relates to intel7 ligence or counterintelligence matters, the Per8 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

9 House of Representatives and the Select Com10 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate. 

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

12 (A) an offense against the United States 

13 that arises from an investigation in which the 

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

15 target, subject, or witness; 

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

17 United States Code; or 

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

19 1512, or 1621 of title 18, United States Code, 

20 provided that the offense occurred in relation to 

21 a Congressional proceeding or investigation. 

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

23 of sentence. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 7694 IH

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

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

3 States Code. 

4 SEC. 3. BRIBERY IN CONNECTION WITH PARDONS AND 

5 COMMUTATIONS. 

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

7 amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in10 cluding the President and the Vice President of 

11 the United States,’’ after ‘‘or an officer or em12 ployee or person’’; and 

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

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

15 any pardon, commutation, or reprieve, or offer 

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

17 and 

18 (2) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting ‘‘(includ19 ing, for purposes of this paragraph, any pardon, 

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

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

22 offers, or promises anything of value’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS