Trump pardon of 2020 election allies does not erase Fulton County election interference charges

Georgia Republicans who came under legal scrutiny after allegedly playing a role in trying to overturn President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss are celebrating after the president issued a sweeping preemptive pardon – though the presidential decree will have no direct effect on the languishing state racketeering case out of Fulton County. In a proclamation, […]

President Donald Trump and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones at a 2024 rally in Zebulon. Trump issued a pardon for Jones, a longtime supporter, and others involved in a plan to overturn the 2020 election. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

In a proclamation, Trump said the pardons will end “a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 Presidential Election.” The pardons were issued Friday but announced Monday by a Justice Department official.

The document broadly applies to any U.S. citizen for activity related to schemes to create “alternate” slates of electors in attempts to certify a Trump victory in states where he lost, or for efforts to expose “voting fraud and vulnerabilities” in that year’s presidential election.

After losing in 2020, Trump undertook an unprecedented effort to overturn the election, and he continues to maintain without evidence that the election was rigged.

Fulton defendants

The pardon specifically names each of Trump’s 18 alleged co-conspirators in the 2023 case brought by the Fulton County District Attorney, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and fellow Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro.

The defendants are accused of participating in a conspiracy to overturn the election results, including by casting fake electoral votes, convincing state officials to falsify results and pressuring Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman to falsely state that she witnessed ballot fraud.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis accused Trevian Kutti, a former publicist for celebrities including rapper Kanye West, of trying to frighten Freeman into casting doubt on Fulton County’s election system. Kutti celebrated receiving the pardon on Instagram Monday with a post featuring West’s song “Praise God.”

“WOKE UP THIS MORNING WITH PARDON FROM THE PRESIDENT. STILL UP ON TOP. THE DEVIL IS MY OPP. CAN’T PAY ME TO STOP! MY GOD AT THE TOP! THANK YOU @realdonaldtrump,” wrote Kutti, whose bio includes the phrase “I BEAT FANI WILLIS.”

Willis accused Jeffrey Clark, now a senior official with the Office of Management and Budget, of trying to overturn election results in 2020 when he was serving as acting assistant attorney general, including by falsely stating that the U.S. Department of Justice had “significant concerns” with the elections in Georgia and other states.

In July, a Washington disciplinary panel recommended Clark be disbarred.

In a statement on social media, Clark said he was surprised by the pardon but “deeply grateful” to Trump for giving it, even though it’s not likely to end his legal woes.

“I’m thankful to the Lord, President Trump, friends, and donors,” Clark said on social media. “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. Sadly, that’s not immediate reality.”

Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, called the pardon “an affront to democracy” for those who believe Trump and his allies tried to overturn the election, but he added that the case also illustrates the importance of state prosecutors in cases involving an allegation of a scheme to overturn a presidential election.

“Because a president enjoys sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution and because the president can provide pardons for federal crime, state prosecutors can be the best last option to deter presidential election fraud or secure accountability for those who assist a president in trying to hold onto power after they lose a re-election campaign,” he said.

But the Fulton case is far from solid ground at the moment.

After Willis was pulled off the case because of a “significant appearance of impropriety,” stemming from a romantic relationship she had with a special prosecutor she hired, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee tasked Peter J. Skandalakis, executive director of the nonpartisan Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council, with appointing a new prosecutor.

The deadline for that appointment is Friday, and if none is found, McAfee will dismiss the entire indictment.

The search for a replacement continues, Skandalakis said in a statement Monday.

“My staff and I have been diligently working on this matter since the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the disqualification of the District Attorney’s Office,” he said. “We will continue to carry out our responsibilities without being influenced by matters outside the scope of our assigned task, with the goal of complying fully with Judge McAfee’s order.”

Alternate electors

Trump’s pardon also specifically names so-called alternate electors from several states, including 16 from Georgia who met in the state Capitol in December 2020 to sign false certificates stating that Trump won and send them to Washington. Three alternate electors were also charged in the Fulton County election interference case: former Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham, former Georgia GOP chief David Shafer and state Sen. Shawn Still, a Johns Creek Republican who was recently named Senate GOP caucus chair.

Georgia’s highest-ranking alternate elector is Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who participated in the plan while serving as a state senator. A special prosecutor ruled last year that Jones acted within the scope of his authority as a state legislator and that charges should not be brought against him. Trump has endorsed Jones in the 2026 race for governor in Georgia.

In a statement following the pardon, campaign spokesperson Kayla Lott characterized the case against Jones as political theater from Willis.

“After being cleared by the state prosecutor, this is the final confirmation that this whole thing was a charade led by Joe Biden and Fani Willis,” Lott said. “They owe the taxpayers an apology and a refund.”

Brad Carver, an attorney and Georgia GOP 6th District chairman who was named in the pardon, said in an email that he was pleased to hear the news, though he noted he hadn’t been charged with a crime.

Carver said the electors were correct to challenge the election due to “significant irregularities” in Fulton County, adding that the Trump Justice Department is seeking election records from Fulton County.

“At that time, we had to submit the alternate slate to preserve our credible election challenge,” Carver said. “Unfortunately we never had our day in court. I didn’t do anything wrong and did what I did to preserve a valid election contest. I was proud to fight for the truth, transparency and integrity in our elections and will continue to. I hope that the final three electors still subject to state prosecution will be soon vindicated as well, as they are similarly situated.”

Numerous investigations have found no evidence of widespread voting fraud in Georgia or elsewhere during the 2020 election, and three tallies of the vote confirmed Biden’s win.

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