It now looks like Trump is going to use the pardon as his own personal samurai sword (I back away from calling it his "trump card," which from now on I'll call the "asshole card.") Rachel Maddow last night had a discussion about the pardon power, which is practically unchecked with the President. The only symantical limit is the president can't pardon himself, and he can't pardon ahead of time. There definitely has to ba a crime to pardon anybody. Her guest (sorry, didn't get the name) said that a pardon in an ongoing investigation against the President would probably (depends on the judge) lead to another charge of Obstruction of Justice.
However, Politifact doesn't mention this possibility, so I don't think it's very likely.
The only way to eject Trump is to impeach him, and that's not going to happen with Republicans running Congress. Remember, impeachment is a political process, not a legal one. Congress can remove a president for no crime whatsoever.
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