Commutation….
Everybody repeat that word after me. Commutation. COM-Moo-TAY-shun.
Trump, by virtue of being President, has virtually unlimited powers of pardon, and also, the word used at the beginning of this diary.
Commutation is the ability to reduce a sentence of a criminal. More importantly, it differs significantly from the pardon in that the conviction stands, but 5th amendment privileges still apply, so the guilty do not have to roll over on Trump.
With Gates plea deal, Mueller is closing in on Trump and trying to elicit a commutation of a sentence to see how far he can take it.
But him issuing a pardon is a non-starter, if he does anything, it will be a commutation.