President Trump has issued full and complete pardons to 77 alternate electors, federal officials, attorneys, and activists who challenged the 2020 presidential election results. The political left, however, claims these pardons were without authority! They say that the Pardon Clause of the U.S. Constitution applies solely to federal crimes and prosecutions, not state ones. But this view is incorrect.
Our system of dual sovereigns, federal and state, is subject to the Supremacy Clause, under which federal authority takes precedence over state authority. These 77 pardoned individuals were acting to protect a presidential election, which serves the interests of the United States. Their conduct clearly falls within the president’s pardon authority, a power Courts have repeatedly refused to limit. In 1867, the Supreme Court held that the presidential pardon is “unlimited, with the exception” for cases of impeachment. “It extends to every offence known to the law,” not merely to federal crimes.
Historical examples support this broad reach of the President’s pardon power. In 1856, the Supreme Court upheld President Millard Fillmore’s pardon in a District of Columbia court murder case, despite the lack of federal charges. In 1872, New York prosecuted Susan B. Anthony for voting illegally in a presidential election and charged local officials for allowing it. After his reelection, President Ulysses S. Grant pardoned those officials for violating state law, and in 2020, President Trump pardoned Susan B. Anthony herself. President Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon for Watergate-related conduct was understood to protect against any charges, including potential state ones. Even last year, Democrat-controlled New York courts blocked an attempt to prosecute Paul Manafort after his presidential pardon.
There is not one single example of a presidential pardon recipient being prosecuted in state court for the same conduct. Allowing state prosecutors to recharge pardoned conduct as state crimes would weaken the president’s constitutional authority. These pardons provide complete protection. The individuals pardoned by President Trump can move forward without fear of further legal action related to their 2020 efforts.
Don’t let the mainstream media gaslight you on constitutional issues! Sign up for our emails and analysis at PhyllisSchlafly.com. For nearly 60 years, the Phyllis Schlafly Report has provided more facts in fewer words, and there’s no slowing down in 2026! Go to PhyllisSchlafly.com today and sign up to receive our reports. Thank you for listening, and join us tomorrow for the Phyllis Schlafly Report.
