“What is the practical effect of Trump pardoning individuals who took efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, given that (to my understanding) none of these individuals was convicted on FEDERAL charges? Are these ‘pardons’ purely theatrics? Or are there practical ramifications of a federal pardon that ameliorate some consequences of these individuals having been found guilty of (or pleading guilty to) STATE charges?” — D.
Hi D.,
The practical effects are limited for the reason you observe. Presidents can only pardon federal crimes, so pardoning people who have only been charged at the state level wouldn’t seem to help them.
Yet even if these 2020 election-related pardons are more symbolic, it’s worth taking stock of what the president is using his power to symbolize.
Recall that he started his second term by ordering blanket clemency and dismissals for Jan. 6 defendants, including people who assaulted law enforcement on that day in 2021. Both that earlier pardon proclamation and this latest one purported to end, in the president’s words, “a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people.”
The latest one therefore fits the pattern of Trump attempting to recast himself and his supporters as victims after their failed subversion of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden. Seeking to airbrush his place in history, the president said in his Jan. 6 proclamation that it “begins a process of national reconciliation,” while the latest one said it “continues” that process.
Can you feel that renewed national spirit? That’s on top of his general wielding of the pardon power to reward allies and attack the Biden administration — corrupting the present while tilting at the past. Looking forward, there are practical effects lurking in the symbolism. As my colleague Hayes Brown wrote this week, these latest pardons are “a greenlight for those people who actively worked to subvert the 2020 election but have not been charged to replicate their campaign against democracy in the future.” For anyone who commits federal crimes on Trump’s behalf before he leaves office, his actions emphasize that he has his pardon pen ready. Please submit “Ask Jordan” questions through this form for a chance to have your question featured in a future edition of the Deadline: Legal Newsletter.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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