With the completion of the proofreading for Trojan SMERSH just weeks away, Donald Trump has pardoned 77 of his co-conspirators who tried to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss. The pardon list includes prominent names Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell.
Of all their egregious attempts to steal the 2020 election election, their most henious schemes included Eastman and Chesebro’s nefarious plan to submit fake electors and pressure Mike Pence to count those instead of the official electors, and the January 2nd 2021 phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump pressured him to “find 11,780 votes” that did not exist. Mark Meadows participated in that phone call.
Not only is this an unjust abuse of power, it is also an impeachable offence. Both the Fake Elector schemes and the Trump-Raffensperger phone call are considered State Crimes. A US President can only pardon federal crimes, not state crimes. This ruling is even laid out on the FAQ page of the Department of Justice website:
“Does the President have authority to grant clemency for a state conviction?
No. The President’s clemency power is conferred by Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which provides: “The President . . . shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” The President’s authority to grant clemency is limited to federal offenses and offenses prosecuted by the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia in the name of the United States in the D.C. Superior Court. An offense that violates a state law is not an offense against the United States. A person who wishes to seek a pardon or a commutation of sentence for a state offense should contact the authorities of the state in which the conviction occurred. Such state authorities are typically the governor or a state board of pardons and/or paroles, if the state government has created such a board.”
This is absolute, yet in the opening of his pardon letter, Trump states:
“Acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States. I, DONALD J. TRUMP. do hereby grant a full. complete, and unconditional pardon to all united statan citizens for conduct relating to the advice, creation. orgunization, execution, submission, support, voting, activities, participation in, or advocacy for or of any slate or propoted slate of Presidential electors, whether or not recognized by any State or State official, in connection with the 2020 Presidential Election, as well for any conduct relating to their efforts to expose voting fraud and vulnerabilities in the 2020 Presidential Election.”
This is an impeachable offence, which will almost certainly be cited by Democrats should they take back the House and Senate in the 2026 midterms.