Trump’s pardon of 2020 election allies does not erase election interference allegations in Fulton County

President Donald Trump and Governor Burt Jones at a 2024 rally in Zebulon. Trump pardoned longtime supporter Jones and others involved in the plan to overturn the 2020 election. Recorder Ross Williams/Georgia

Georgia Republicans, who have faced legal scrutiny after allegedly playing a role in trying to overturn President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat, are celebrating after the president issued a sweeping preemptive pardon — though the presidential executive order will have no direct impact on the situation tender racketeering case in Fulton County.

In the proclamation, Trump said the pardons would end “the grave national injustice perpetrated by the American people in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.” The pardons were issued on Friday, but announced Monday by a Justice Department official.

The document broadly applies to any U.S. citizen for activities related to schemes to create “alternative” voter rolls to confirm Trump’s victory in states where he lost, or for efforts to expose “fraud and voting vulnerabilities” in this year’s presidential election.

After his defeat in 2020, Trump launched an unprecedented attempt to overturn the election and continues to claim, without evidence, that the election was stolen.

Fulton defendants

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

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

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

“I woke up this morning with a presidential pardon. I’m still on top. The devil is my opponent. I CAN’T PAY ME TO STOP! MY GOD IN THE MOUNTAIN! THANK YOU @realdonaldtrump,” wrote Kutti, whose biography includes the phrase “I DEFEATED THE WILLIS FANS.”

Willis accused Jeffrey Clark, now a senior official at the Office of Management and Budget, of trying to overturn the 2020 election results while he served as deputy attorney general, including by falsely stating that the U.S. Department of Justice had “serious concerns” about elections in Georgia and other states.

In July, a disciplinary panel in Washington recommended that Clark be left alone deprived of driving license.

In a statement on social media, Clark said he was surprised by the pardon but was “deeply grateful” to Trump for granting it, although it likely would not end his legal problems.

“I am grateful to you, President Trump, friends and donors,” Clark said on social media. “I wish I could declare this legal nonsense for good – a pardon should completely and abruptly end the federal bar and Georgia state authorities’ attacks on me and many others. Unfortunately, this is not the immediate reality.”

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

“Because the president enjoys broad immunity from criminal prosecution and because he can grant pardons for federal crimes, state prosecutors may be the best last option to prevent fraud in the presidential election or ensure accountability for those who help the president try to stay in power after losing a re-election campaign,” he said.

However, Fulton’s case is not solid at this point.

After Willis was withdrew the case Due to the “substantial appearance of misconduct” stemming from a romantic relationship she had with a special prosecutor she had hired, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ordered Peter J. Skandalakis, executive director of the nonpartisan Prosecutors’ Council, to appoint a up-to-date prosecutor.

The deadline for that nomination is Friday, and if it fails, McAfee will dismiss the entire indictment.

Skandalakis said in a statement on Monday that the search for a successor was ongoing.

“My staff and I have been working diligently on this case since the Georgia Supreme Court upheld its disqualification decision for the District Attorney’s Office,” he said. “We will continue to perform our duties without being influenced by matters beyond the scope of our assignment, and our goal will be to fully comply with Judge McAfee’s order.”

Alternative electors

Trump’s pardon also specifically mentioned the so-called alternative electors from several states, including 16 from Georgia, who gathered at the state Capitol in December 2020 to sign false certificates declaring Trump’s victory and send them to Washington. Three alternate electors were also charged in the Fulton County election interference case: former Coffee County Republican Party Chair Cathy Latham, former Georgia Republican Party chief David Shafer and state Sen. Shawn Still, a Johns Creek Republican who was recently named chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus.

Georgia’s highest-ranking deputy elector is Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who participated in the plan while serving as a state senator. Last year, a special prosecutor ruled that Jones acted within his authority as a state legislator and is charged with that shouldn’t be brought against him. Trump endorsed Jones in the 2026 Georgia governor’s race.

In a statement released after the pardon, campaign spokeswoman Kayla Lott characterized the case against Jones as Willis’s political theater.

“Once admitted by the State Attorney, this is the final confirmation that this entire case was a farce run by Joe Biden and Fani Willis,” Lott said. “We owe taxpayers an apology and a refund.”

Brad Carver, an attorney and chairman of Georgia’s 6th District GOP whose name was included in the pardon, said in an email that he was pleased with the news, although he noted that he has not been charged with a crime.

Carver said electors were right to contest the election because of “significant irregularities” in Fulton County, adding that Trump’s Justice Department is searching for election records from Fulton County.

“At that time, we had to present an alternative plan to sustain our credible election challenge,” Carver said. “Unfortunately, we never saw each other in court. I did nothing wrong and did everything in my power to maintain the validity of the electoral contest. I was proud to fight for truth, transparency and honesty in our elections and I will continue to do so. I hope that the final three voters who are still subject to state indictment will also be vindicated soon because they are in a similar situation.”

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