THEY WANT THE PARDONS PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY'RE GUILTY:

The framework in which Kushner and others must operate is fairly well set. A president's pardon power applies only to federal crimes. Anyone pardoned for federal offenses would, accordingly, remain liable for state crimes that cover the same underlying conduct. Professor Jed Shugerman has led the way in describing the large set of potential state-level offenses that could apply to conduct related to the Russia investigation--including financial crimes and criminal invasion of privacy for abetting the distribution of stolen emails. Accept a pardon for money laundering under federal law? Look out for prosecutions under state money laundering statutes.

But this is not simply about the residual power of a state attorney-general to prosecute in the wake of a presidential pardon. What Trump campaign affiliates have to fear is that acceptance of a pardon could add booster rockets to the state prosecutors' efforts for closely related state crimes. Officials like New York's Schneiderman may feel they have an ace in hand if they can walk into a state courthouse with a defendant's admission of guilt implied by having accepted a presidential pardon. This get-out-of-federal-jail card comes at a price.

In a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1915, Burdick v. United States, the Justices stated that individuals have a right to refuse a pardon because "acceptance" of one carries with it a "confession of guilt." Over the years, many federal courts have relied on Burdick for this proposition, the most recent including the Arizona court in upholding President Trump's pardon of former sheriff Joe Arpaio.

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