Civil contempt isn't an "offense against the United States," and so isn't subject to Article II's pardon power.

#SCOTUS has never expressly *held* as much, but then-Chief Justice Taft suggested this in dicta in the 1925 ruling in Ex parte Grossman:

https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep267/usrep267087/usrep267087.pdf#page=25

Comments