The power of the president to pardon is absolute. There is no chance for review, except for Congress to remove the president if he exercises it without principle.
Presidents of both parties have misused their power. Usually, they have done so for political reasons, to reward supporters or contributors. It happened again last week, when President Donald Trump pardoned former newspaper publisher Conrad Black, who was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice related to sales of his newspapers but later wrote a glowing biography of Trump, and former California Republican Assembly leader Patrick Nolan, who pleaded guilty to racketeering in a 1990s political corruption case but who also pleased Trump by criticizing the Russia investigation.
Trump has used his power more judiciously in pardoning deceased boxer Jack Johnson and commuting the sentence of Alice Johnson, a first-time nonviolent drug offender who served 21 years in prison.
