> It protects the outgoing administration from political persecution Aren’t pardons generally given post-conviction? How can it be a tool to protect against an

> It protects the outgoing administration from political persecution Aren’t pardons generally given post-conviction? How can it be a tool to protect against an incoming administration if the victim has been convicted under the current one? Unless you mean that in the future, when the outgoing’s party is back in power they can issue pardons. That doesn’t seem to be consistent with the trend that many pardons are issued on a President’s last day in office (and not his first).