Self pardon Questions again. IF Rump self pardons, in last hours of his presidency

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

39. Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: A likely scenario would be that Trump pardons himself, but a federal prosecutor, having evidence that one or more federal crimes have been committed, has a grand jury convened anyhow. The evidence is presented to the grand jury, which returns an indictment. Trump petitions to quash the indictment on the ground that he's been pardoned; a federal district court decides whether to grant the petition and that decision is appealed to the appropriate circuit court of appeals; then, however it is decided at that point, the losing party (either Trump or the government, by the US Attorney's office) petitions the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, which almost certainly would be granted. This process will take months. In the meantime, the Manhattan D.A. is licking his chops because no matter how the federal case is decided, Trump can't pardon himself for state crimes, of which he has doubtless committed many in New York.