You can only pardon someone who was convicted of a crime.
I don’t believe that’s true. See the pardon of Richard Nixon, who was never even impeached, let alone charged. I believe there’s some debate on the validity of such a pardon, but none (including Nixon’s pardon) have been challenged in court.
Note the article is from two months ago, on October 10, but it’s still relevant. I was confused when I saw Chrystia Freeland quoted.