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President Donald Trump has issued full pardons to several of his allies who backed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
According to CNBC, Trump issued "full, complete, and unconditional" pardons to his former personal lawyer, Rudi Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorneys Sidney Powell and John Eastman, and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, all of whom were accused of working to overturn the 2020 election.
The pardons apply only to federal crimes and don't affect state-level prosecutions, though most of those cases have been stalled or dismissed.
The proclaimation announcing the pardons was posted on Sunday (November 9) by attorney Ed Martin, who described the prosecution of Trump's allies as “a grave national injustice perpetrated on the American people." The proclaimation also said the pardons were meant to promote "national reconciliation."
“These great Americans were persecuted and put through hell by the Biden Administration for challenging an election, which is the cornerstone of democracy,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Despite Leavitt's comments, none of the individuals pardoned were ever charged federally. State authorities in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin brought forth the charges over alleged efforts to subvert election results.
Trump himself was indicted on federal charges accusing him of attempting to overturn his election loss to former President Joe Biden. However, the case was dropped after Trump’s 2024 victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, in accordance with Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
Giuliani, Powell, Eastman, and Clark were identified as uncharged co-conspirators in that case. Giuliani and Meadows also face ongoing legal issues in state courts.
Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, was among the loudest voices spreading false claims of voter fraud after the 2020 election. He has since been disbarred in Washington, D.C., and New York, and was ordered to pay $148 million in damages to two Georgia election workers he defamed.
Eastman, a former law school dean, authored a memo outlining ways Vice President Mike Pence could block the certification of Biden’s win on Jan. 6, 2021. Clark, who pushed to have the Justice Department challenge state results, also faces possible disbarment.
In a post on Monday (November 10), Clark said he “did nothing wrong” and “shouldn’t have had to battle this witch hunt for 4+ years.”
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