President Trump Pardons Rudy Giuliani and Allies Who Tried to Overturn 2020 Election (UPDATE)

President Donald Trump is at the White House handing out pardons—again! Most recently, he pardoned his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his onetime chief of staff Mark Meadows, and others accused of backing the Republicans’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

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Pardon Will Not Apply To Donald Trump

Pardon attorney Ed Martin posted the proclamation online late Sunday. It explicitly says the pardon does not apply to the president himself. In fact, the “full, complete, and unconditional” pardon applies only to federal crimes. None of the dozens of Trump allies named in the proclamation were ever charged federally over the bid to reverse the election won by Democrat Joe Biden. It doesn’t impact state charges. However, it’s worth noting that state prosecutions connected to the 2020 election have either reached a dead end or are currently limping along.

The move, however, highlights Donald Trump’s continued efforts to promote the idea that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He’s pushed the narrative despite courts around the country and U.S. officials finding no evidence of fraud that would have affected the election outcome.

These pardons follow the sweeping pardons of the hundreds of Trump supporters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. At that time, the president also threw out convictions of rioters who attacked law enforcement.

Who Else Got Pardoned?

Among those Trump recently pardoned was Sidney Powell, an attorney who promoted baseless conspiracy theories about a stolen election. John Eastman, another lawyer who pushed a plan to keep Trump in power, got a pardon. Additionally, Jeffrey Clark, got a pardon. Clark is a former Justice Department official who championed Trump’s efforts to challenge his election loss.

There’s other names in the pardon proclamation, including Republicans who acted as fake electors for Trump, leading to state charges. A judge in September dismissed the related Michigan case against 15 Republicans. They were accused of attempting to falsely certify Trump as the winner of the election in that battleground state.

What To Know About Rudy Giuliani & Others Pardoned

Rudy Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, was one of the most vocal supporters of Trump’s unproven claims of voter fraud after the 2020 election. He has since been disbarred in Washington, D.C., and New York over his advocacy of bogus election claims. Also, he lost a $148 million defamation case brought by two former Georgia election workers whose lives were destroyed by conspiracy theories he pushed.

John Eastman was a close adviser to Trump in the wake of the 2020 election and wrote a memo laying out steps Vice President Mike Pence could take to stop the counting of electoral votes while presiding over Congress’ joint session on Jan. 6 to keep Trump in office.

Jeffrey Clark is now overseeing a federal regulatory office. However, he is facing possible disbarment in Washington over his advocacy of Trump’s claims. Clark clashed with Justice Department superiors over a letter he drafted after the 2020 election. In the letter, he claimed the department was investigating “various irregularities” and had identified “significant concerns” that may have impacted the election in Georgia and other states. Clark wanted the letter sent to Georgia lawmakers, but top Justice Department officials refused. Clark said in a social media post on Monday that he “did nothing wrong” and “shouldn’t have had to battle this witch hunt for 4+ years.”

Why Did Trump Issue The Pardons To Rudy Giuliani & Others?

The pardon proclamation described efforts to prosecute Donald Trump’s allies as “a grave national injustice perpetrated on the American people.” It said the pardons were designed to continue “the process of national reconciliation.” Rudy Giuliani and others have denied any wrongdoing. They’ve argued they were simply challenging an election they believed was tainted by fraud.

“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 an emailed statement.

Those pardoned were not prosecuted by the Biden administration, however. They were charged only by state prosecutors who operate separately from the Justice Department.

Donald Trump himself was indicted on federal felony charges, accusing him of working to overturn his 2020 election defeat. However, the case brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith was abandoned in November after Trump’s victory over Democrat Kamala Harris. That’s because the department has a policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.

Giuliani, Powell, Eastman and Clark were alleged co-conspirators in the federal case brought against Trump but were never charged with federal crimes.

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Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.