President Donald Trump has pardoned Nevada’s six so-called “fake electors” who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election, a largely symbolic move that protects them from any federal charges but does not protect them from ongoing state-level prosecutions.

The decision announced Sunday evening by U.S. pardon attorney Ed Martin covers anyone involved in the Trump campaign’s efforts in 2020 to overturn his defeat in key swing states by putting forward an alternate slate of electors. This includes Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald and Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid, in addition to top Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff.

The other fake electors in Nevada are former Clark County GOP Chair Jesse Law, Nevada GOP Vice Chair Jim Hindle, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice.

However, the “full, complete and unconditional pardon” only relates to federal crimes, and none of those pardoned has faced federal charges related to the 2020 election. Nevada’s six fake electors are still facing state-level charges.

Last month, a Carson City judge ruled that state forgery charges brought by Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford — a Democrat who is running for governor next year — against the Republican electors can proceed, and a trial is set for next year. It’s the second state-level prosecution against the fake electors; a Clark County judge dismissed the first case last year over jurisdictional issues, but that decision is pending appeal before the Nevada Supreme Court.

In a statement, Ford said that “Trump’s actions have no bearing on our decision-making or prosecution under Nevada state law.”

Lawyers representing the fake electors did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning.

The move, however, underscores Trump’s continued efforts to promote the idea that the 2020 election was stolen from him even though courts around the country and U.S. officials found no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome. It follows the sweeping pardons of the hundreds of Trump supporters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, including those convicted of attacking law enforcement. 

Among those also pardoned were Sidney Powell, an attorney who promoted baseless conspiracy theories about a stolen election, John Eastman, another lawyer who pushed a plan to keep Trump in power, and Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who championed Trump’s efforts to challenge his election loss. 

The proclamation explicitly says the pardon does not apply to the president himself.

The pardon described efforts to prosecute the Trump allies as “a grave national injustice perpetrated on the American people” and said the pardons were designed to continue “the process of national reconciliation.” Giuliani and others have denied any wrongdoing, arguing they were simply challenging an election they believed was tainted by fraud. 

“These great Americans were persecuted and put through hell by the Biden Administration for challenging an election, which is the cornerstone of democracy,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an emailed statement to the Associated Press.

Those pardoned were not prosecuted by the Biden administration, however. They were charged only by state prosecutors who operate separately from the Justice Department.

Trump himself was indicted on federal felony charges accusing him of working to overturn his 2020 election defeat, but the case brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith was abandoned in November after Trump’s victory over Democrat Kamala Harris because of the department’s policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. Giuliani, Powell, Eastman and Clark were alleged co-conspirators in the federal case brought against Trump but were never charged with federal crimes. 

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, was one of the most vocal supporters of Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of large-scale voter fraud after the 2020 election. He has since been disbarred in Washington, D.C., and New York over his advocacy of Trump’s bogus election claims and lost a $148 million defamation case brought by two former Georgia election workers whose lives were upended by conspiracy theories he pushed. 

Eastman, a former dean of Chapman University Law School in Southern California, was a close adviser to Trump in the wake of the 2020 election and wrote a memo laying out steps Vice President Mike Pence could take to stop the counting of electoral votes while presiding over Congress’ joint session on Jan. 6 to keep Trump in office.

Clark, who is now overseeing a federal regulatory office, also is facing possible disbarment in Washington over his advocacy of Trump’s claims. Clark clashed with Justice Department superiors over a letter he drafted after the 2020 election that said the department was investigating “various irregularities” and had identified “significant concerns” that may have impacted the election in Georgia and other states. Clark wanted the letter sent to Georgia lawmakers, but top Justice Department officials refused. 

Clark said in a social media post on Monday that he “did nothing wrong” and “shouldn’t have had to battle this witch hunt for 4+ years.”

Updated on 11/10/25 at 12:05 p.m. to include a comment from Attorney General Aaron Ford.