Donald Trump grants pardons to Rudy Giuliani and 2020 election figures: Aide

President Trump pardoned his former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and a slate of other key figures charged in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to a U.S. pardon attorney.

The list includes several high-profile individuals connected to the effort to overturn the 2020 election: Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Boris Epshteyn and others.

The “fake electors” scheme sought to push former Vice President Mike Pence to certify Trump-supporting electors in those critical states instead of the true Electoral College votes cast for former President Biden. It took place in New Mexico and Pennsylvania, as well, though charges were never brought there. On Jan. 6, 2021, Pence declined to do so, and a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol. Trump previously pardoned hundreds of supporters federally charged in connection to the riot, including those who attacked law enforcement that day. The efforts to challenge the 2020 election results have already had consequences, aside from convictions, for Trump’s allies. Giuliani was disbarred from practicing law in New York and the District of Columbia for making numerous false claims related to the 2020 presidential election and was forced to turn over most of his assets to two election workers he defamed. Eastman, Chesebro and Clark have also faced disciplinary action or proceedings. And several who were pardoned, including Chesebro, Powell and Ellis, had entered guilty pleas to state criminal charges stemming from their post-2020 election work. The Trump attorneys promoted baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud in the aftermath of 2020, and Eastman helped concoct the fake electors’ scheme, which aimed to keep the president in office. Trump faced a federal indictment on charges related to his effort to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, but special counsel Jack Smith moved to toss the case after the president was elected to his second term.