S. 5256 — Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act of 2026

This section defines terms for the Act. It specifies "appropriate congressional committees" as the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, plus the House and Senate Intelligence Committees for intelligence matters. It defines "covered offense" as offenses arising from investigations targeting the President, a relative, a former President, political appointees, or certain campaign employees, plus specific offenses under 12 U.S.C. 192 or 18 U.S.C. 1001, 1505, 1512, or 1621 related to congressional proceedings. It also defines "pardon" to include commutations, "political appointee," and "relative."

This section requires the Department of Justice Inspector General to investigate any presidential pardon for a covered offense. It directs the Attorney General and President to submit all prosecution, investigative, and pardon-related materials within 30 days, mandates a report to Congress on any noncompliance within 10 days, and requires publication of an unclassified report of findings with a possible classified annex.

This section requires the Attorney General and the President to submit to the chairs and ranking members of the appropriate congressional committees all materials relating to a pardon for a covered offense within 30 days after the pardon is granted. It provides that Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure does not prohibit such disclosures.

This section expands the federal bribery statute to cover the President, Vice President, and apparent successful candidates for those offices before they assume office. It also classifies any pardon, commutation, or reprieve as an official act that cannot be influenced by corrupt offers of value.

This section declares that any pardon granted by the President to himself or herself is void and of no effect. It preserves court jurisdiction and does not confer legal immunity from investigation or prosecution.

This section requires individuals granted a presidential pardon on or after the date of enactment to submit financial disclosure reports on gifts given to the President who granted the pardon. Reports must cover gifts in the prior 365 days (due within 30 days) and any subsequent gifts (due by May 15 each year for five years), include the date, description, and value of each gift, and be submitted through an online portal established by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics within 180 days and published publicly within 15 days.

This section provides that if any provision of the Act or amendment made by the Act is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and its amendments remain in effect.