On Sunday, former President Donald Trump issued a set of pardons for dozens of individuals closely tied to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The document, released by Ed Martin — the Pardon Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice — listed several prominent figures and said each would receive a “full, complete, and unconditional” pardon for their federal actions related to the election.
Among those named was Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and longtime Trump ally. Giuliani had played a key role in efforts to have alternate slates of presidential electors submitted in swing states that President Joe Biden carried.
Other individuals included Mark Meadows (Trump’s White House chief of staff during the 2020 election), John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro (attorneys who helped craft legal strategies intended to pressure the certification process), and Sidney Powell (an attorney who filed election-fraud lawsuits in several states).
According to the proclamation, the pardons covered “conduct relating to the advice, creation, organization, execution, submission, support, voting activities, participation in, or advocacy for any slate or proposed slate of presidential electors.” That language suggests a sweeping legal forgiveness for federal acts connected to efforts to change the outcome of the election.
However, these federal pardons do not apply to state-level prosecutions, and many of the individuals named remain under investigation by state authorities in Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada for actions tied to the 2020 election. The move, while legally significant, also appears to carry strong political weight — reinforcing Trump’s loyalty to his allies and his continued rejection of the certified results of the election.
Major Pardons Given to 2020 Election Allies
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