Trump pardons Giuliani, others over efforts to reverse 2020 loss
President Donald Trump pardoned dozens of Republicans, including Rudy Giuliani, who aided his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, a largely symbolic gesture toward some of his top allies.
The list posted by Ed Martin, the US pardon attorney, includes people who served as so-called “alternate electors” in key states won by former President Joe Biden, as well as prominent Trump supporters such as former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorneys Sidney Powell and John Eastman.
Presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes, and the people included in the list have not been charged at that level in connection with their conduct related to the 2020 election. Trump’s clemency would not affect state prosecutions.
Giuliani and Powell spearheaded efforts to pressure legislatures in battleground states that Biden won to appoint pro-Trump slates of electors, based on unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud. Meadows is facing charges in Georgia over allegations that he organized calls in which state officials were urged to hand the state to Trump.
The pardon grant posted by Martin said it offers “a full, complete, and unconditional pardon” for actions related to the creation of alternate elector slates, as well as “for any conduct relating to their efforts to expose voting fraud and vulnerabilities in the 2020 Presidential Election.” It said the clemency applies to “all United States citizens” who engaged in those activities, not limited to those listed.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said those receiving pardons have been “persecuted and put through hell” by Biden’s administration.
“Getting prosecuted for challenging results is something that happens in communist Venezuela, not the United States of America, and President Trump is putting an end to the Biden Regime’s communist tactics once and for all,” Leavitt said in a statement.
The move is the latest step by Trump to insulate allies from the consequences of his efforts to block the certification of the 2020 election and prevent Biden, the election winner, from being confirmed as president.
On the first day of his second term, Trump granted clemency to more than 1,500 people associated with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol that forced lawmakers to evacuate and briefly delayed Biden’s confirmation, including those convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers.