In a significant political move, former President Donald Trump has granted pardons to Rudy Giuliani and several other Republicans involved in efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election outcome.

The pardons, signed on Friday, were announced by Trump’s attorney, Ed Martin, on social media platform X late Sunday. The list includes 77 individuals linked to Trump’s campaign, notably Giuliani and attorney Sidney Powell.

The accompanying statement describes the pardons as a measure to “end a grave national injustice” following the disputed 2020 election, aiming to promote national reconciliation.

Importantly, the statement clarifies that Trump himself is not a recipient of this pardon.

This development follows legal actions by Democratic state attorneys general against individuals labeled as “fake electors.” These electors allegedly signed documents falsely asserting that Trump had won the presidential race in their respective states.

They had claimed the plan was for then-Vice President Mike Pence to certify that Trump won those state’s electoral votes rather than Joe Biden, who won the electoral vote. 

When Pence then refused to do so, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump’s pardon came as attorneys general in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin faced looming deadlines in their cases. 

President Donald Trump has pardoned Republicans for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election

Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was among those who were pardoned

Prosecutors argued that Trump allies had conspired to get Vice President Mike Pence to declare certain states for the then-president, and when he didn’t, some of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol

In Arizona, for example, Attorney General Kris Mayes faced a decision on whether to press forward with her case or let it fizzle out after a state judge in May ordered prosecutors to return the case to a grand jury, The Hill reports. 

A group of politicians and party leaders there argued that prosecutors failed to present to a grand jury a century-old law they claimed excused their decision to send Republican electoral votes to Congress despite Biden’s victory in the state, according to the Courthouse News Service.

Maricopa County Jude Sam Myers agreed, ruing ‘a prosecutor has a duty to instruct the grand jury on all law applicable to the facts of the case.’

By omitting mention of the law Republicans said justified their actions, Myers ruled that the defendants – who included Giuliani, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and campaign advisor Boris Epshteyn – were ‘denied a substantial procedural right.’ 

Mayes faced a deadline to either revive the case or let it be dismissed of November 21, and had hinted that she was planning on dismissing the case in an interview, according to 12 News.  

‘The one thing I do know for sure is that I am so proud of the prosecutors and investigators in the Attorney General’s office, and I’m proud of the work we did on that case,’ she said, notably using the past tense.

Meanwhile, in Michigan, a state judge dismissed charges faced by 15 pro-Trump electors in September after finding insufficient evidence to prove criminal intent.

District Court Judge Kristen Simmons, who was appointed to the court by Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, ruled that the Republican defendants ‘seriously believed’ there was fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

‘I believe they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress,’ she wrote in her decision.

‘Right, wrong or indifferent, it was these individuals and many other individuals in the state of Michigan that sincerely believed that for some reason there were some serious irregularities with the election.’

Giuliani had been facing charges in Arizona for falsely signing documents saying Trump had won the election in the state, but the case was transferred back to a grand jury in May

Michigan District Court Judge Kristen Simmons dismissed charges faced by 15 pro-Trump electors in September after finding insufficient evidence to prove criminal intent

All the defendants, which included former Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock, maintained their innocence throughout the trial.

Prosecutors during the initial indictment dropped charges against a 16th individual after the defendant agreed to cooperate with the attorney general’s office.

During her ruling, Simmons said the defendants lacked the ‘sophistication’ to carry out the crimes outlined by the prosecution.

‘The prosecution would like the court to believe that these named defendants were savvy or sophisticated enough to understand fully the electoral process, which the court does disagree because the document that was presented doesn’t even align with the level of sophistication that they want me to believe,’ Simmons added.

After Simmons’ brutal dismissal, the state attorney general stood by the case, claiming the defendants ‘knew they lied.’

‘The evidence was clear: They lied. They knew they lied, and they tried to steal the votes of millions of Michiganders,’ Attorney General Dana Nessel said while leaving the courthouse.

‘And if they can get away with this, well, what can they get away with next?’

In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s office was disqualified from prosecuting Trump allies after her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, a member of her team, helped blow up the case

In Georgia, prosecutors also faced an uphill battle trying to convict Trump allies of falsifying election results after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s office was disqualified over her relationship with one of the prosecutors.

Ruling in a 2-1 opinion, the Georgia appeals court said she was ‘wholly disqualified from this case,’ and pointed to ‘a significant appearance of impropriety.’ 

The Georgia Prosecuting Attorney’s Council then faced the difficult task of appointing a new prosecutor, and Judge Scott McAfee gave the council until this Friday to provide a name or see the charges dismissed.

Trump allies were also facing prosecution in Nevada, but a fight over the venue has tied up the case against six alternate electors for more than a year. 

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford had filed his original case in left-leaning Clark County, home to Las Vegas.

But Judge Mary Kay Holthus determined he chose the wrong venue, ruling it should have been brought in Carson City, the state capital, where the sham ballots were cast in 2020.

Ford appealed that decision, which was heard by the Nevada Supreme Court in August. It had not yet issued a ruling on the matter.

In the meantime, the statue of limitations passed for one of the two charges, and Ford refiled the other charge in Carson City, which a source told The Hill was to ensure that charge wasn’t also lost.

Former President Joe Biden ultimately declared victory in the 2020 presidential election

Last month, though, Justice of the Peace Derek Dreiling ruled that forgery charges could proceed to a higher court, the Nevada Independent reports.

He called it the ‘hardest call I’ve had to make in my career.’ 

And in Wisconsin, a judge refused in August to dismiss charges against two former Trump attorneys and a former campaign aide. 

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.