Trump issues sweeping pardons for 2020 election allies — what the move really means
President Donald Trump issued pardons for more than 70 people accused of seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. The move largely has been viewed as a symbolic gesture, as...
By Fox News · Fox News
President Donald Trump issued pardons for more than 70 people accused of seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. The move largely has been viewed as a symbolic gesture, as the presidential pardons only cover federal charges and those involved don’t have any federal charges leveled against them. Among those pardoned were Trump allies like the president's former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who peddled claims that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump and is embroiled in a case in Arizona where he faces state charges for election interference. Although the pardons cannot extend to state charges like those Giuliani faces in Arizona, the pardons could pave the way for some to attempt to redeem their reputation, according to Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies. TRUMP PARDONS RUDY GIULIANI, MARK MEADOWS, SIDNEY POWELL, OTHERS INVOLVED IN 2020 ELECTION INTERFERENCE SAGA Olson said that while the pardon itself cannot reverse a disbarment, loss of license or loss of employment, the pardon could provide fuel for the pardon beneficiaries to pursue reconsideration of these consequences. "What other purpose is served by pardoning someone who hasn't been charged with any federal crime?" Olson said in a Tuesday email to Fox News Digital. "Some of the beneficiaries will treat this gesture as if it vindicates their good name, or establishes that they should not have been disbarred or disgraced. But those are not things a presidential pardon can do." For example, Giuliani was disbarred in both New York and Washington in 2024. The Manhattan appeals court in New York determined in July 2024 that Giuliani routinely made inaccurate statements about the 2020 election, and the decision said that he "baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process." Even so, Olson said that there could be some benefit for those pardoned — even if they don’t face federal charges —…