'No MAGA left behind': Trump pardons Giuliani, Powell, others involved in 2020 alternate electors case

President Donald Trump has announced "full, complete, and unconditional" pardons for those allegedly involved in the effort to arrange an alternate slate of electors and submit certificates of ascertainment indicating that Trump won the 2020 Electoral College vote in critical states.

According to the presidential proclamation shared by U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin early Monday morning in response to an older post stating, "No MAGA left behind," pardons were also granted to individuals who attempted "to expose voting fraud and vulnerabilities in the 2020 Presidential Election."

'President Trump is putting an end to the Biden regime's communist tactics once and for all.'

Martin signaled that Trump, unlike his predecessor, was directly involved in the pardon process, noting that the signatures on the pardons were "wet (not autopen)," meaning they were hand-signed.

Among the dozens of names identified in the non-exhaustive list of those pardoned is Trump lawyer Boris Epshteyn, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell, and John Eastman, a lawyer who advised Trump's 2020 campaign. Trump did not pardon himself.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Blaze News, "These great Americans were persecuted and put through hell by the Biden administration for challenging an election, which is the cornerstone of democracy."

"Getting prosecuted for challenging results is something that happens in communist Venezuela, not the United States of America, and President Trump is putting an end to the Biden regime's communist tactics once and for all," added Leavitt.

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Valerie Plesch/Washington Post/Getty Images

The proclamation notes at the outset that these pardons serve to end "a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 Presidential Election and continues the process of national reconciliation."

A White House official told Blaze News that "Americans in seven states acted to preserve alternate slates of electors as a result of major issues with the 2020 election. They took action, while exercising their First Amendment rights, that the system was designed to let them do: preserve the right of the American people to seek redress including through our courts and federal and state legislative processes."

The official likened the actions allegedly taken by some of those pardoned to those taken by "the famous 1960 Hawaiian alternate electors for President Kennedy, who were never prosecuted or even questioned."

"The alternate electors were involved in a purely federal constitutional proceeding before Congress. Under long-established law, states have no jurisdiction with respect to any alleged wrongdoing associated with a federal proceeding," added the official.

'I wish the pardon would terminate the lawfare totally.'

Although providing a clean slate and shield where federal charges are concerned, the pardons are largely symbolic, as they are unlikely to help those facing state-level prosecutions — such as those defendants facing charges in Nevada, those embroiled in the so-called "fake electors" case in Arizona's Maricopa County, and those who recently lost their appeal to move their Georgia case to federal court.

Jeff Clark, the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Trump Office of Management and Budget, who is among those pardoned, expressed gratitude to the president but stressed that his legal battle is far from over.

"I wish the pardon would terminate the lawfare totally — and under SCOTUS's venerable Ex Parte Garland decision, it certainly should. But zooming in on the DC Office of Disciplinary Counsel, we expect the leader of that office not to drop his case," wrote Clark.

"I wish I could be declaring this legal nonsense over for good — a pardon should totally and abruptly kill off these federal bar and Georgia-federal attacks on me and many others."

Martin noted in a Monday-morning X post that when he started in his current role, "POTUS encouraged us to look at two categories of Americans especially: First, those who needed and deserved clemency, especially long serving inmates who are ready to be released. Second, he wanted us to look at those people who had been targeted by the Biden administration. The targeted is a huge group of Americans."

The pardon attorney indicated that "one group that jumped up right away" was the "alternate electors and their affiliates who were targeted by Jack Smith and others."

Mike Howell, the president of the Oversight Project, told Blaze News, "President Trump and his administration continue to take critical steps not only to de-weaponize government but protect those harmed by the vicious attacks from the last administration. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin has played an indispensable role in this effort."

"We are thrilled to see these meaningful results after our long-standing advocacy for America’s election integrity warriors," continued Howell. "We need them back on the field to fight back against left-wing election-rigging efforts. It is a Thanksgiving miracle, and I’m proud our great team was able to help those in the arena."

The pardons come just days after Trump approved a pardon for three-time World Series champion Darryl Strawberry and months after the president pardoned approximately 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.

Editor's note: This article has been edited after publication to incorporate comment from Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, who is a contributor to Blaze News.

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