Pardongate

P3A1R1D2O1N1G2A1T1E1

proper noun

The 2001 controversy around Bill Clinton's pardons of 140 people, including Patty Hearst, on his last day in office as President of the United States.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. informalThe 2001 controversy around Bill Clinton's pardons of 140 people, including Patty Hearst, on his last day in office as President of the United States.

    […] hearings on Pardongate, Clinton's eleventh-hour clemency spree, were still under way.

    2006, Lynn Vincent, Robert Stacy McCain, Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party
    2 more examples

    Newly elected Senator Hillary Clinton suddenly found herself caught up in Pardongate's swirl, as prosecutors began reviewing her husband's grant of clemency for four upstate New York rabbis whose village voted for her […]

    2004, Carl Limbacher, Hillary's Scheme: Inside the Next Clinton's Ruthless Agenda to Take the White House

    Nicknamed “Elvis,” Clinton is considered a “rock star” by the left wing of the Democratic Party, perhaps because he left the White House in shambles after his presidential tour. Whitewater, Travelgate, Monicagate, and Pardongate […]

    2017, BusinessNews Publishing, Summary: The Clinton Crack-Up: Review and Analysis of R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.'s Book

Origin

From pardon + -gate.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Pardongate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pardongate

MLA

“Pardongate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pardongate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Pardongate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pardongate.

Source: Pardongate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.