I've started reading more on this as rumors spin up that blanket pardons may be issued for Fauci, Cheney, Schiff, etc. While it will raise the very obvious question "if they didn't do anything wrong, why are they getting pardons?" The left's response will of course, be "because Trump is going to persecute them as revenge."

That's all fine and good, maybe they will argue that the blanket pardon will absolve them of any treason allegations.

Not so fast....

I'm not a lawyer by any stretch, so I turned to ChatGPT for a summary to the query: "Does a blanket presidential pardon cover treason?". Here is the response:

A blanket presidential pardon, granted by the U.S. President, can potentially cover treason, but there are limitations and nuances to consider.

Under the U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 2 grants the President the power to "grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment." This means the President can issue a pardon for treason, but there are important conditions:

Treason Definition: Treason is defined in the Constitution (Article III, Section 3) as levying war against the United States or aiding its enemies. A person convicted of treason could be pardoned for their crimes.

Impeachment Exception: The Constitution specifically excludes pardons in cases of impeachment. If a person is impeached by Congress and convicted, they cannot be pardoned for that.

Scope: A "blanket" pardon could, in theory, cover treason, but it would need to be specific about the offenses being pardoned. A blanket pardon might be issued for a class of offenses (e.g., federal crimes), but would not protect someone who was impeached or convicted of a crime outside the President's pardon authority.

In practice, a presidential pardon for treason is rare and would likely be highly controversial due to the severity of the offense and its political implications. However, the pardon power is broad enough to cover it under constitutional provisions.

The way I interpret this, is that SCOTUS would probably determine that a Presidential pardon would not cover a charge of treason as it was not spelled out in a blanket pardon.

I also checked and found that UCMJ is considered Federal law, so therefore a pardon could include any violation of military law or law of war. Now, if they are determined to be enemy combatants, I think a lot of the veil will be pierced. Of course, fraud vitiates everything.