Would President Gore Pardon an Indicted Clinton? No Need To

It was a question redolent of a major political miscue a generation ago: Would Al Gore, as president, pardon his predecessor if President Clinton is indicted after he leaves office?

“Well, once again, President Clinton is way ahead of you on that,” Gore told his audience at the annual meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. “He said publicly some time ago that he would neither request nor accept a pardon.

“That is the answer to that question,” Gore said.

The query was sparked by recent reports that Robert W. Ray, Kenneth W. Starr’s successor as independent counsel investigating the president, might seek charges against Clinton arising from the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal. Under that scenario, Clinton would be charged as a private citizen after he leaves office on Jan. 20.

If that happens and if Gore wins his bid for the White House in November, he could find himself in a position similar to President Ford’s.

Ford took office in August 1974, after President Nixon resigned rather than face certain impeachment because of the Watergate scandal. A month later, Ford pardoned Nixon for any crimes he might be charged with arising from the Watergate case.

To back up Gore’s statement on Clinton’s position about a pardon, aides to the vice president released a transcript of comments that Charles F.C. Ruff made to the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 9, 1998. Ruff, one of Clinton’s lawyers during the impeachment proceedings that stemmed from the Lewinsky scandal, was asked if he could assure the panel that Clinton would not pardon himself or accept a pardon from a successor. “Absolutely,” Ruff said.