Reading Room Document
Whether a Presidential Pardon Expunges Judicial and Executive Branch Records of a Crime
A presidential pardon granted under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution does not automatically expunge Judicial or Executive Branch records relating to the conviction or underlying offense. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/451106/download.
The OLC's Opinions
Opinions published by the OLC, including those released in response to our FOIA lawsuit