How can Obama pardon someone who has not been charged with any crime?

Newsmax reports on speculation that team Obama is leaving open the option of pardoning Hillary.  The quotes go to great lengths to write off any future Clinton criminal charges to just being political attacks, "We've got a long tradition in this country of people in power not using the criminal justice system to exact political revenge," Earnest explained. "We go to great lengths to insulate our criminal justice system from partisan politics.".

So basically, the liberals believe that if Trey Gowdy is given the Atty General position (which he so richly deserves if anyone does!) and if Gowdy follows the facts to a criminal indictment of Hillary, then it is just a political attack.  I bet if they found Hillary over one of dead informants holding a smoking gun that her hypnozombies would declare it a GOP setup.

I have been clear: I don't like Clinton or Trump.  I just like Clinton less and mainly because she has so much political baggage anymore that she is nothing more than a set of fake teeth smiling at me.  Trump is a blithering idiot but at least you can see him coming.  That's his only redeeming feature.  So I am far from being a Trump fan but Criminal Hillary has to pay for her crimes else there can be no healing.  Too many conservatives have been shat on for too long to let it all be bygones.  There must be an accounting for political and criminal sins.  That is the conservative way and conservatives now run this joint. Not that all the GOPs are conservative mind you but after this ass kicking of the very concept of liberalism, ALL GOPs are going to lean further right from where ever their comfort zone is because they now know that reds's not dead and blue is screwed for quite some time to come.