President Donald Trump issued a sweeping pardon on Sunday, November 9, 2025, shielding 77 allies from potential federal prosecution for their roles in attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The proclamation, which surfaced late Sunday night through a social media post by Justice Department Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, grants “full, complete, and unconditional” pardons to some of Trump’s most prominent supporters during that contested period.
Among those pardoned are former Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and attorneys Sidney Powell, John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro. The pardon also extends to Boris Epshteyn, a longtime Trump adviser, and Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign attorney who later cooperated with prosecutors in Georgia.
The document, which gives a date of November 7 in its text, declares that it “ends a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 Presidential Election and continues the process of national reconciliation.” The proclamation applies broad protection to anyone involved in creating, organizing or advocating for alternate slates of presidential electors, as well as those who worked to expose what they claimed was voting fraud in the 2020 election.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the pardons in a statement Monday morning, declaring that the individuals were “persecuted and put through hell by the Biden Administration for challenging an election, which is the cornerstone of democracy.” She added that getting prosecuted for challenging results is something that happens in communist Venezuela, not the United States.
The pardons are largely symbolic since none of those listed were convicted of federal crimes, which presidential pardons cover. However, the broad language effectively prevents any future administration from pursuing federal charges against these individuals. Former special counsel Jack Smith had identified Giuliani, Eastman and Powell as Trump’s co-conspirators in his investigation, though no federal charges were ultimately brought against them.
Giuliani played a central role in the effort to pressure state legislatures to reject Joe Biden’s victories in key swing states. He was disbarred in New York and Washington, D.C., for his work attempting to overturn Pennsylvania’s election results and for claims made in federal lawsuits. In January, a federal court found him in contempt for failing to comply with orders to hand over information about his assets to two Georgia election workers he had defamed.
Meadows served as a crucial intermediary between Trump and state officials during the 2020 election aftermath. Eastman and Chesebro were instrumental in developing the strategy to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes on January 6, 2021. Powell launched what prosecutors described as a fringe legal assault on election results across multiple swing states.
The pardon list includes dozens of Republican activists who signed documents falsely claiming to be legitimate presidential electors. These alternate electors were part of a scheme designed to provide Pence with a pretext to delay or reject certification of Biden’s victory. Among those pardoned are former state Republican chairs David Shafer of Georgia, Kelli Ward of Arizona and Michael McDonald of Nevada, all of whom face state charges for their participation in the elector scheme.
The proclamation explicitly excludes Trump himself from the pardon’s protection, sidestepping the controversial question of whether a president can pardon himself. This constitutional issue remains untested, and Trump appears unwilling to force a court battle over the matter at this time.
Presidential pardons apply only to federal offenses, leaving state prosecutions unaffected. Prosecutors in Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona and Michigan have filed charges related to the fake elector schemes, and many of these cases remain active. A judge in Michigan dismissed those charges in September, but other state proceedings continue to face procedural delays and appeals.
The pardons represent Trump’s latest effort to reframe the narrative surrounding his attempts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. Those efforts culminated in the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters attempted to halt the certification of Biden’s victory. Within hours of taking office in January 2025, Trump pardoned more than 1,000 individuals connected to the Capitol attack, including members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Ellis and Chesebro had both pleaded guilty to felony charges in the Georgia case and cooperated with prosecutors in multiple states. Their cooperation included providing information about the fake elector scheme and its coordination among various state Republican parties. The pardons effectively nullify any federal consequences they might have faced despite their state-level plea agreements.
Trump has yet to comment publicly on the pardons. Martin, who posted the proclamation on social media platform X with the title “Important pardon of Alternate Electors of 2020!!” was responding to his own message from May in which he wrote “No MAGA left behind.”
The timing of the pardons comes as deadlines loom for several remaining state prosecutions to move forward. The pardons may complicate these cases, as defense attorneys are likely to cite the presidential action in their arguments, even though federal pardons do not extend to state crimes.
