Pardons don’t stop state prosecutions

The Herald reports:

US President Donald Trump has granted sweeping pardons to top allies accused of attempting to subvert the 2020 election, the administration’s pardon attorney Ed Martin has said.

Martin shared a list on X of more than 70 people, including the President’s former lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, and Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, who were granted “full, complete and unconditional” pardons.

The names on the list were embroiled in a scheme to alter slates of electors in battleground states, including Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, which Joe Biden had secured in his successful 2020 presidential run.

That plot, supported by Trump and his allies, helped fuel a demonstration that turned into a rioting mob attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

None of those named in the four-page pardons missive were charged on the federal level, but the directive could prevent future administrations from prosecuting the alleged co-conspirators.

This is not surprising. Trump of course thinks trying to keep him in power could never possibly be a bad thing, even if laws were broken.

But his pardon only exempts them from federal prosecutions. There are ongoing cases in Georgia and other states which will not be affected by these pardons.