President Trump pardoned a long list of political allies accused of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election, according to Ed Martin, the pardon attorney at the Department of Justice.
The people listed were accused or indicted for various crimes or conduct related to attempts to subvert the 2020 election, which Trump falsely claimed to have won. Some face state proceedings, while others were never charged.
A statement posted on Martin’s personal X account on Sunday night listed 77 people who received “complete, total, and unconditional” pardons, including Rudy Giuliani, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and Sidney Powell, Trump’s former lawyer who spread conspiracy theories about ballot fraud after Trump lost the 2020 election.
Powell is one of four pardon recipients who previously pleaded guilty in a Georgia court after being indicted for trying to subvert the 2020 election results in Georgia.
The pardons are largely symbolic, as none of the listed names were charged with federal crimes. Dozens of people listed were charged in several swing states that were the center of unfounded election fraud claims, including Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, and Wisconsin. Presidents do not have the power to pardon state crimes.
The statement appears to have been signed on Friday. It also made clear that Trump was not among those being pardoned. Trump has previously said he had the “absolute right” to pardon himself—a claim that remains untested. The Supreme Court granted the president broad immunity for official acts committed during his presidency.
In a statement to NPR, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “These great Americans were persecuted and went through hell by the Biden Administration for questioning an election, which is the cornerstone of democracy,” adding: “President Trump is putting an end to the communist tactics of the Biden Regime once and for all.”
In January, Trump pardoned about 1,500 participants in the January 6 riots who took part in the siege of the US Capitol four years ago. Among the pardoned was Enrique Tarrio, former Proud Boys president, who was convicted of “seditious conspiracy” and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
This latest series of pardons, though symbolic, appears to be part of Trump’s long-standing efforts to rewrite history and amplify his false claims that the 2020 election, won by Joe Biden, was stolen. Questioned about these false claims in a 2022 interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, Trump repeatedly tried to spread more disinformation about his electoral defeat before abruptly hanging up.
Source: npr.org by Rebecca Rosman