# If Hillary gets arrested... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2016, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238 "2016-03-17T07:12:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bomberswarm2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bomberswarm2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bomberswarm2)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/1 "2016-03-17T07:12:59Z")
This is a factual question. If Hillary Clinton is arrested by the FBI and charged with a federal crime such as Espionage, as some news outlets have been reporting for months, what effect would this have on a candidate both a) before they win the nomination or b) after they win the nomination Are there any laws relating to this? Would Hillary be allowed to run? If she was, and she got elected, but then was found guilty, what would happen? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/2 "2016-03-17T07:18:58Z")
Same answer as the previous times somebody “just asked that question”. ---
**Author:** ![bomberswarm2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bomberswarm2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bomberswarm2)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/3 "2016-03-17T07:30:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Same answer as the previous times somebody “just asked that question”. I don’t have time to go waltzing all over the internet finding obscurely phrased threads. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/4 "2016-03-17T07:39:03Z")
> [@bomberswarm2](#): > > Are there any laws relating to this? Would Hillary be allowed to run? If she was, and she got elected, but then was found guilty, what would happen? [Convicted criminals can run for office and be elected to it](http://www.factcheck.org/2008/11/felons-in-office/). I suppose that then either Obama could pardon her, or she could just pardon herself. ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/5 "2016-03-17T11:42:45Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > [Convicted criminals can run for office and be elected to it](http://www.factcheck.org/2008/11/felons-in-office/). > > I suppose that then either Obama could pardon her, or she could just pardon herself. Pardoning yourself if you’re President. What an interesting thought. Why didn’t Nixon think of that ? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/6 "2016-03-17T12:05:22Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > Pardoning yourself if you’re President. What an interesting thought. Why didn’t Nixon think of that ? Impeachment is unrelated to the pardoning process; a self-pardon wouldn’t have kept him in the presidency. And he picked Ford as his VP, who eventually did pardon him. ---
**Author:** ![bomberswarm2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bomberswarm2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bomberswarm2)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/7 "2016-03-17T12:06:43Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > [Convicted criminals can run for office and be elected to it](http://www.factcheck.org/2008/11/felons-in-office/). > > I suppose that then either Obama could pardon her, or she could just pardon herself. Convicted yes, but I asked specifically about incarcerated (for espionage nonetheless) Surely there is something written somewhere that forbids a president from holding office while in prison on charges that are this close to treason? I don’t mean she could be charged with treason, I mean espionage is pretty close to it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/8 "2016-03-17T12:19:51Z")
> [@bomberswarm2](#): > > Surely there is something written somewhere that forbids a president from holding office while in prison on charges that are this close to treason? Nope. > **[Article Two of the United States Constitution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Clause_5:_Qualifications_for_office)** > > Article Two of the United States Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government, which carries out and enforces federal laws. Article Two vests the power of the executive branch in the office of the president of the United States, lays out the procedures for electing and removing the president, and establishes the president's powers and responsibilities. > Section 1 of Article Two establishes the positions of the president and the vice president, and sets the term of both ... > [@](#): > > By the time of their inauguration, the President and Vice President must be: > > natural born citizens > at least 35 years old > inhabitants of the United States for at least fourteen years. > > \ > > The Twelfth Amendment (1804) requires the Vice-President to meet all of the qualifications of being President. > The Twenty-second Amendment (1951) prevents a President from being elected more than twice ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/9 "2016-03-17T13:47:12Z")
Are you just talking about being arrested? Legally, that would have no effect - she would be considered innocent until proven guilty. She could be nominated, run for President, and be elected. Congress could impeach her after the inauguration, for anything they wanted to. If the Senate convicted her, she would be removed from office, but no further penalty would ensue from the impeachment or removal - Congress can impose no other penalty besides removing her from office. I supposed they could also vote to censure, but that has no legal effect. She could, in theory, pardon herself, although that is a more thorny issue, but this would not stop the House of Representatives from impeaching or the Senate removing her if they chose. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/10 "2016-03-17T14:51:29Z")
Here, try these: > **[What if Hillary gets indicted?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=775006)** > > It seems that most Dems are steadfastly ignoring the FBI investigation into Hillary’s e-mail trouble. As last count, the FBI is looking into not only if she mishandled classified info, but if she lied or obstructed justice during the investigiation.... > **[If, hypothetically, Hillary was indicted, what options do Dem Party rules...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=785605)** > > Please let’s not get into the “But she won’t be indicted” argument–it doesn’t matter for the sake of this discussion. Just go with the hypothetical please. Opening night of the convention, Loretta Lynch indicts Hillary for violating national... > **[Democrats who may run if Hillary is indicted or drops out](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=776259)** > > If Hillary Rodham Clinton is indicted by the FBI due to her email saga or some other reason, and she drops out, these are the lists of Democrats that could make a late run for president. Some names include Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kirsten... I searched for threads with “Hillary” in the title over the last 6 months. Not too hard. FYI there aren’t any on this topic with “Clinton” in the title; I searched for that too. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/11 "2016-03-17T15:02:06Z")
> [@bomberswarm2](#): > > If Hillary Clinton is arrested by the FBI and charged with a federal crime such as Espionage, as some news outlets have been reporting for months For a very generous definition of “news”. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/12 "2016-03-17T15:23:36Z")
Here’s the transcript from the Senate Judicial Committee’s [Sept 9th, 1998 session](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/paneltext090998.htm) where they took up something very close to this issue. Closest to a factual answer in this is that … no … a sitting president has to be impeached, removed from office and _then_ criminally prosecuted. We may to wait until this actually happens before we could know any more. As far as any presidential candidate is concerned, We the People would decide long before the courts could reach a decision. Oh, btw, Lyndon LaRouche ran for president from jail in 1992 … ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-hillary-gets-arrested/749238/13 "2016-03-17T15:26:56Z")
> [@bomberswarm2](#): > > I don’t have time to go waltzing all over the internet finding obscurely phrased threads. Given that we have a thread on this subject on this board active only a few weeks ago old that would have been extremely easy to find with even a minimal search, I’m going to close this. If you have further specific questions after reading the other threads that have been linked to, you may open a new thread, but please cite the previous threads. Colibri General Questions Moderator