Are Presidential pardons automatically public record / knowledge?

[Nevilledog]

4. Nope. Don't even have to be charged with a crime.

Pre-emptive pardons. Can also issue a pardon that gives pretty much blanket protection, i.e 1 pardon for all federal crimes.




In Ex Parte Garland, an 1866 case involving a former Confederate Senator who was disbarred from the practice of law, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that his pardon from President Andrew Johnson restored his civil rights — even though he had never been charged with a crime.

The pardon power, the court said, "extends to every offence known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment."

Most famously, Ford pardoned Nixon for any crimes that Nixon "has committed or may have committed or taken part in" during his presidency.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/04/presidential-pardons-explanation-executive-clemency-powers/660381002/