SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
rudy giuliani
Trump Pardons His Co-Conspirators in 2020 Coup Attempt
One policy expert warned the move was likely meant to signal to Republican election officials that if they take actions to steal future elections, "they'll be pardoned."
Nov 10, 2025
President Donald Trump has given a "full, complete, and unconditional” pardon to a long list of allies who conspired to help him overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
Late Sunday night, Justice Department attorney Ed Martin posted a list of over 70 people who would receive pardons. Many of the figures included were named as unindicted co-conspirators or charged at the state level for their roles in the plot to knowingly spread false claims of widespread voter fraud in an attempt to push states to reject former President Joe Biden's victories in key swing states and pressure Vice President Mike Pence into stopping the certification of the election.
Among those pardoned are Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who publicly promoted baseless claims of a vast conspiracy against the president to the public, claiming that the election was stolen by a cabal of foreign infiltrators and scheming election officials. They later faced defamation lawsuits for these claims, and in legal proceedings, Giuliani conceded he made false statements about election workers, while Powell's lawyers argued that "no reasonable person" would conclude her public claims were statements of fact.
Trump also pardoned former chief of staff Mark Meadows, who acted as a facilitator between the president and state officials he attempted to bully into saying he won the election. Aside from the president himself, Meadows was the highest-ranking White House staffer on the phone call in which Trump asked Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" him enough votes to be declared the winner of the election.
Also receiving pardons were attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro. They were part of what Pence called Trump's "gaggle of crackpot lawyers," who concocted the tortured legal theory that the vice president could declare Biden's victory in swing states illegitimate and anoint Trump as the winner. Eastman privately admitted to Trump that the scheme was illegal but pressed ahead with it anyway, culminating in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol, during which Trump supporters chanted, "Hang Mike Pence," and tried to stop the election results from being certified.
Also pardoned were several of the right-wing activists who signed documents falsely claiming to be electors from states that had certified the election for Biden.
Crucially, the individuals listed never faced federal criminal indictments for their election subversion attempts. However, dozens of those on the list were charged with crimes in swing states—including Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada—related to the effort. The pardons mean these officials cannot be indicted at the federal level for these crimes.
Though the pardon list is broad, giving clemency to "all United States citizens for conduct relating to the advice, creation, organization, execution, submission, support, voting activities, participation in or advocacy for or of any slate or proposed slate of presidential electors… as well for any conduct relating to their efforts to expose voting fraud and vulnerabilities in the 2020 presidential election," it explicitly states that it "does not apply" to Trump himself, indicating that his legal team is not yet ready to test the theory that the president can pardon himself.
Still, the language Martin used in the announcement—"No MAGA left behind"—signaled the goal of creating a two-tiered justice system where those who display loyalty to Trump are immune from the law.
"The stated goal of the pardon attorney is to reward the president's political supporters," wrote Matt Gertz, a senior fellow for Media Matters for America on social media.
It coincides with Trump's broader efforts to give get-out-of-jail-free cards to anyone who gives him political support. Immediately after returning to office, he gave blanket pardons to more than 1,500 people who participated in the violent effort to overturn the election on his behalf on January 6. Since then, his Justice Department has moved to fire or suspend those who brought cases against them, even for unrelated crimes.
Simply being a public Trump supporter has often been enough for people to be let off the hook for petty crimes. Florida healthcare executive Paul Walczak, who was convicted of federal tax evasion, reportedly got a pardon after his mother made a substantial donation to Trump's Super PAC. He later gave pardons to reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, a pair of vocal supporters, who were convicted of bank and tax fraud. He also pardoned Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins, another prominent supporter, who was convicted in a bribery scandal for accepting "cash for badges."
"Pardon attorney Ed Martin explicitly linked the pardons to his 'No MAGA left behind' mantra—tweeting the news in reply to a post that said exactly that," noted senior Lawfare editor Anna Bower. "Ironically, Martin also leads the Weaponization Working Group, which probes alleged 'politicization' of the Justice Department."
Tyson Slocum, an energy policy expert at Public Citizen, warned that these pardons send a clear message to those hoping to help Trump subvert future elections.
"Trump's pardons of Republicans who have committed crimes," he said, "is a setup to encourage state-level Republican election officials to take actions to illegally steal the election, knowing that if they succeed, they'll be pardoned."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Absolutely Shameful': Critics Slam Latest Law Firm to Cave Amid Trump's Revenge Threats
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP—where former Vice President Kamala Harris' husband is a partner—investigated the Capitol insurrection and successfully represented Georgia election workers defamed by Rudy Giuliani.
Apr 01, 2025
In the latest capitulation to his retributive attacks on Big Law, U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that his administration struck a deal with a law firm that took part in the investigation into the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection and whose partners include the husband of former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
"Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP proactively reached out to President Trump and his Administration, offering their decisive commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession," Trump said on his Truth Social network. "The President is delivering on his promises of eradicating Partisan Lawfare in America, and restoring Liberty and Justice FOR ALL."
According to Trump, Willkie—whose partners include former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff—will provide a total of at least $100 million in pro bono services to veterans, active duty U.S.en troops, and Gold Star families; law enforcement and first responders; to "ensuring fairness in our justice system;" and combating antisemitism.
The firm also agreed to commit to "merit-based hiring" and refrain from "illegal" diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring, promotion, and retention. It must also "not deny representation to clients, such as members of politically disenfranchised groups... who have not historically received legal representation from major national law firms... because of the personal political views of individual lawyers."
Willkie said in a statement that "we reached an agreement with President Trump and his administration on matters of great importance to our firm. The substance of that agreement is consistent with our firm's views on access to legal representation by clients, including pro bono clients, our commitment to complying with the law as it relates to our employment practices, and our history of working with clients across a wide spectrum of political viewpoints."
"The firm looks forward to having a constructive relationship with the Trump administration, and remains committed to serving the needs of our clients, our employees, and the communities of which we are a part," the statement added.
The agreement averts what could have been a ruinous executive order from Trump targeting the firm. Willkie drew Trump's ire for actions including employing a top investigator for the House committee that examined his role in fomenting the attack on the U.S. Capitol and for representing two Georgia election workers who sued his former attorney and adviser, Rudy Giuliani, for defamation. In December 2023, the former New York City mayor was ordered to pay $148 million to the workers for falsely accusing them of engaging in a nonexistent conspiracy to "steal" the 2020 U.S. presidential election from Trump.
According to The Associated Press, "Emhoff made it known internally that he disagreed with this deal and told firm leadership they should fight, according to a person familiar with the situation who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations."
Tuesday's deal outraged democracy defenders.
Absolutely shameful. Doug Emhoff of all people should understand the danger that will come from lawyers capitulating to a man hell-bent on destroying our democracy. Emhoff and other partners need to show they stand on the side of the rule of law by quitting—there’s absolutely no other option.
[image or embed]
— Molly Coleman ( @mollycoleman.bsky.social) April 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
"Emhoff and other partners need to show they stand on the side of the rule of law by quitting—there's absolutely no other option," argued Molly Coleman, executive director of the People's Parity Project and PPP Action and a St. Paul, Minnesota City Council candidate.
The Willkie agreement follows
similar surrenders by white-shoe law firms including Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Trump accused these and other law firms of weaponizing the judicial system, and last month, he issued a memo directing U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to "seek sanctions" against firms and lawyers that the administration says have engaged in "frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Giuliani Ordered to Give NYC Penthouse, Luxury Items to Georgia Election Workers He Defamed
'This outcome should send a powerful message that there is a price to pay for those who choose to intentionally spread disinformation," said a lawyer representing the two women.
Oct 22, 2024
Rudy Giuliani, the disgraced and disbarred former New York City mayor and personal attorney for ex-President Donald Trump, was ordered by a federal judge on Tuesday to hand over all of his valuable possessions—including everything from a New York City penthouse co-op to his television set—to a pair of Georgia election workers whom he defamed in service of Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by Democrats.
In August 2023, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found Giuliani liable for defaming Ruby Freeman and ArShaye "Shaye" Moss—who worked as election officials in Fulton County, Georgia—by falsely accusing the pair of engaging in a nonexistent conspiracy to "steal" the 2020 U.S. presidential election from Trump by taking part in a fake ballot harvesting scheme. Freeman and Moss endured death threats and harassment from Trump supporters as a result of the bogus accusation.
Last December, a Washington, D.C. jury ordered Giuliani to pay $148 million in damages to the women. He subsequently declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
On Tuesday, Judge Lewis Liman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an order for Giuliani "to transfer all personal property specified" in an attached list, including "cash accounts, jewelry and valuables, a legal claim for unpaid attorneys' fees, and his interest in his Madison Avenue co-op apartment to a receivership" benefiting Freeman and Moss.
In addition to the co-op—which according to the real estate website Zillow has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and is worth an estimated $20.6 million—items on the list include watches gifted by European leaders after the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States, a 1980 Mercedes-Benz 500SL formerly owned by the actress Lauren Bacall, and sports memorabilia including a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey.
"We are proud that our clients will finally begin to receive some of the compensation to which they are entitled for Giuliani's actions," Aaron Nathan, an attorney who represented Freeman and Moss, said in a statement. "This outcome should send a powerful message that there is a price to pay for those who choose to intentionally spread disinformation."
"The road to justice for Ruby and Shaye has been long, but they have never wavered," Nathan added.
Giuliani has paid a heavy price for purveying election fraud lies that culminated in the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection by supporters of Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee. His credibility is now in tatters and he has been permanently stripped of his New York and Washington, D.C. law licenses.
And his troubles are far from over—Giuliani also faces criminal charges related to alleged election subversion in
Arizona and Georgia.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular