Trump offers symbolic, preemptive pardons to 2020 election deniers

ATLANTA (CN) — President Donald Trump intends to pardon dozens of “alternative electors” who were accused of trying to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, according to a social media post Monday from a Justice Department aide.

Ed Martin, a Justice Department attorney whose focus is pardons, posted on X what appeared to be the pardons document, naming over 70 individuals.

“This proclamation ends a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 presidential election and continues the process of national reconciliation,” the document signed by Trump says.

Because presidents cannot pardon people charged with state crimes and none of the people named are currently charged in federal court, the pardons are symbolic. But they could potentially preclude any future administration from pursuing criminal cases against the people on the list.

Yet according to the document, Trump intends to grant “a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all United States citizens for conduct relating to the advice, creation, organization, execution, submission, support, voting, activities, participation in, or advocacy for or any slate or proposed slate of presidential electors, whether or not recognized by any state or state official in connection with the 2020 presidential election, as well for any conduct relating to their efforts to expose voting fraud and vulnerabilities in the 2020 presidential election.”

Martin’s post makes clear the pardon does not apply to Trump, dodging the raised issue of whether a president can pardon themselves.

Many of those named in the document faced charges in Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona for signing paperwork falsely claiming to be legitimate presidential electors.

Nevada Republican Party chairman Michael McDonald, former Clark County party chairman Jesse Law, and Jim DeGraffenreid, Durward James Hindle III, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice face forgery charges in the state for mailing phony electoral certificates claiming Trump won the race.

The Wisconsin Republicans on Martin’s pardon list include former Wisconsin GOP chair Andrew Hitt, sitting elections commissioner Bob Spindell, former Wisconsin GOP treasurer Kelly Ruh and Carol Brunner, Mary Buestrin, Darryl Carlson and Pam Travis.

Attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and former Trump aide Mike Roman not only face felony charges in Wisconsin for their role in planning the false elector plot, but in Georgia as well.

Chesebro struck a plea deal with Fulton County prosecutors two years ago, along with three others included on the list — attorneys Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis and bail bondsman Scott Hall, who launched election fraud claims in key swing states.

All 18 of Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case accused of having “knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump,” made the list. This includes his former campaign attorney John Eastman, former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and his onetime personal attorney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who faced charges of helping to lead an effort to pressure state legislatures to reject Joe Biden’s victories in key swing states.

But the Georgia case faces dismissal after its lead prosecutor, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, was removed and a state agency has until Friday to name a replacement prosecutor under a deadline set by a state judge.

The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, which is responsible for appointing an alternate prosecutor, said Monday the pardons will not affect it’s work.

“My staff and I have been diligently working on this matter since the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the disqualification of the District Attorney’s Office. We will continue to carry out our responsibilities without being influenced by matters outside the scope of our assigned task, with the goal of complying fully with Judge McAfee’s order,” the council’s executive director Peter Skandalakis said.

Giuliani also faces charges in Arizona, along with former Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward, state Senator Jake Hoffman of Queen Creek, and Turning Point Action executive Tyler Bowyer — all of whom were on the pardons list.

Last year, Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes obtained felony indictments against 18 defendants, but after several legal setbacks faces a court-ordered deadline of Nov. 21 to either revive the case or allow it to be dismissed.

Trump’s symbolic pardons mark his latest attempt to rewrite the history of his failed attempt to win reelection in 2020, an effort that culminated in the violent attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters who attempted to halt the transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021.

Since winning a second term in 2024, Trump has pardoned more than 1,000 of those who stormed the Capitol, including hundreds who assaulted police officers. At least 10 of those pardoned were rearrested this year on other charges including soliciting a minor, threatening to kill House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, reckless homicide and illegal gun possession.

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