Politics

Trump pardons dozens of his allies "put through hell"

Trump pardons dozens of his allies "put through hell"

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US President Donald Trump has pardoned his former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani and dozens of allies accused of backing the Republicans' efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a Justice Department official says.

Ed Martin, the government's pardon attorney, posted on social media a signed proclamation of the "full, complete, and unconditional" pardon of 77 people.

The list names Sidney Powell, a lawyer who promoted baseless conspiracy theories about a stolen election, and John Eastman, another lawyer who pushed a plan to keep Trump in power.

The proclamation, posted online late Sunday, explicitly says the pardon does not apply to Trump.

Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is also on the list.

Presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes, and none of the Trump allies named were charged in federal cases over the 2020 election.

But the move underscores President Donald Trump's continued efforts to promote the idea that the 2020 election was stolen from him, even though courts around the country and US officials found no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome.

It follows the sweeping pardons of the hundreds of Trump supporters charged in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol, including those convicted of attacking law enforcement.

The proclamation described efforts to prosecute those accused of aiding Trump's efforts to cling to power as "a grave national injustice perpetrated on the American people".