President Trump has granted pardons to his former lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and a wide array of other people accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to the Justice Department’s pardon attorney.
The pardon attorney, Ed Martin, a lawyer who has long supported the rioters who were themselves granted clemency by Mr. Trump for attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, posted a copy of the pardon proclamation on social media early Monday morning with a list of those who were covered by it.
Aside from Mr. Giuliani, the list included John Eastman, a conservative lawyer who advised Mr. Trump’s 2020 campaign; Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff; Boris Epshteyn, a top presidential adviser; and Sidney Powell, another lawyer who led one of the most far-fetched efforts to use the courts to reverse Mr. Trump’s electoral defeat.
The pardons, which only apply to federal crimes, are primarily symbolic. None of those named on the list are currently facing federal charges, and the pardons cannot shield them from continuing state-level prosecutions.
Even though the pardons will have little practical effect, they stand as a reminder that Mr. Trump has often used his expansive powers to reward and protect his allies, even as his Justice Department has shattered traditional norms of independence from the White House by following his orders to pursue criminal cases against those he perceives to be his enemies….
Screenshots of the names. Trump excluded himself.