US President Donald Trump has granted sweeping pardons to several key allies accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election results, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, and Boris Epshteyn. The proclamation, shared by the Justice Department’s Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, describes the efforts to prosecute those involved in the 2020 election schemes as “a grave national injustice perpetrated on the American people” and states that the pardons are designed to continue “the process of national reconciliation”.
The pardons apply only to federal charges and do not affect state or local prosecutions, meaning some individuals may still face legal exposure at the state level. Trump has long insisted he has the power to pardon himself for federal crimes, but he has yet to put the theory to the test. The move has sparked controversy, with critics arguing it undermines accountability for those who attempted to subvert democratic processes.
The list of pardoned individuals includes Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who helped lead efforts to pressure state legislatures to reject Joe Biden’s victories in key swing states. Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff in 2020, was also pardoned, as were attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, who helped devise a strategy to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election on January 6, 2021. Boris Epshteyn, a longtime Trump adviser, and Sidney Powell, a conservative attorney who launched a fringe legal assault on election results, were also granted pardons.
