Trump Pardons Rudy Giuliani and 76 Others Connected to 2020 Election Challenges

A president’s power to grant mercy is one of the most sacred trusts in our constitutional system. In a series of breathtakingly brazen moves, President Trump is now wielding that power not as a tool of justice, but as a political weapon to reward his friends, pardon his allies, and place himself and his inner circle above the rule of law.

This weekend, the administration announced a sweeping new batch of 77 pardons for individuals involved in the scheme to overturn the 2020 election. This is not just another controversial act; it is the culmination of a months-long campaign that signals a dangerous new era of presidential impunity.

Who Was Just Pardoned?

The list of names is a veritable “who’s who” of the 2020 election challenges. It includes the president’s most prominent allies, such as his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and lawyers John Eastman, Sidney Powell, and Kenneth Chesebro.

The proclamation grants a “full, complete, and unconditional pardon” for any conduct related to the creation of alternate elector slates and efforts to “expose voting fraud” in the 2020 election.

Why Do This If No One Was Charged?

As a practical matter, these new pardons are largely symbolic. None of the 77 recipients were facing federal criminal charges for these specific actions. The political message, however, is what is so constitutionally significant.

The pardons are a clear and unambiguous signal from the White House to the nation: those who stand with the President and assist in his political schemes, no matter how legally questionable, need not worry about federal legal consequences.

It is an act of preemptive absolution, a demonstration that loyalty to the President provides immunity from the law.

What Is the President’s Pardon Power?

The framers of the Constitution, in Article II, Section 2, gave the President the near-absolute power to “grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States.” It is one of the most “king-like” powers in our system, a final check designed to be a tool of mercy.

President George Washington used this power to pardon the leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion, a move designed to heal the nation and show the new government’s strength lay in its capacity for mercy, not just its power to crush dissent.

How Is This a Corruption of That Power?

A president’s pardon power is not intended to be a tool of self-dealing or political reward. Yet the pardons of the last year reveal a stunning and consistent pattern.

• He pardoned Jan. 6 rioters convicted of assaulting police officers.
• He pardoned disgraced former Rep. George Santos.
• He pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the crypto founder who helped finance a Trump-family stablecoin.
• He pardoned Republican officials convicted of corruption, including former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada.

In a normal administration, any one of these acts would be a career-defining scandal. For this White House, it is now routine. The President is not using the pardon power to right a perceived wrong or correct an injustice. He is using it as a corrupt transaction, a political favor to reward allies and shield his inner circle.

This is the very definition of a “two-tiered” system of justice – one for the President’s friends and another for everyone else. It is a profound assault on the Equal Protection principles of the Fourteenth Amendment and a betrayal of the President’s constitutional oath to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” He is corrupting the process, and he is doing it in plain sight.