Reading Room Document

Whether the President May Have Access to Grand Jury Material in the Course of Exercising His Authority to Grant Pardons

The President, in the exercise of his pardon authonty and responsibilities under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution, may request that the Pardon Attorney include grand jury information in any recommendation the Attorney may make in connection with a pardon application if the President determines that his need for such information in considering that application outweighs the confidentiality interests embodied in Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The prohibition in Rule 6(e) cannot constitutionally be applied to prevent the President from obtaining grand jury information already in the possession of the executive branch when the President determines that, for purposes of making a clemency decision, his need for that information outweighs the confidentiality interests embodied in Rule 6(e). 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/19301/download.

December 22, 2000