Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act

Bill: 116-s-2090
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV]
Introduced: 2019-07-11
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Congressional oversight

Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation

Criminal procedure and sentencing

Evidence and witnesses

Government ethics and transparency, public corruption

Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
Latest action: action_date: 2019-07-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-07-11
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act</b></p> <p>This bill requires the Department of Justice to submit to Congress all investigative materials related to an offense for which the President pardons an individual if the offense arises from an investigation in which the President, or a relative of the President, is a target, subject, or witness.

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2090 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 11, 2019 Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself, Mr. Blumenthal , Mr. Casey , Mr. Van Hollen , and Ms. Hirono ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To direct the Attorney General to submit to Congress investigative materials in the event of certain pardons granted by the President, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act . 2. Congressional oversight relating to certain pardons (a) Submission of information In the event that the President grants an individual a pardon for an offense against the United States that arises from an investigation in which the President, or a relative of the President, is a target, subject, or witness, not later than 30 days after the date of such pardon, the Attorney General shall submit to the chairmen and ranking members of the appropriate congressional committees all materials of an investigation that were obtained by a United States Attorney, another Federal prosecutor, or an investigative authority of the Federal Government, relating to the offense for which the individual is so pardoned. (b) Treatment of information Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure may not be construed to prohibit the disclosure of information required by subsection (a) of this section. (c) Applicability Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to a pardon granted by the President on or after January 20, 2017. (d) Definitions In this section: (1) The term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and (B) if an investigation relates to intelligence or counterintelligence matters, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. (2) The term pardon includes a commutation of sentence. (3) The term relative has the meaning given that term in section 3110(a) of title 5, United States Code.