(The Center Square) — Federal pardons granted by President Trump to people accused of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election will not shield them from prosecutors pursuing election interference charges in Georgia, state officials said Monday.
Trump and 18 others were accused of trying to overturn the 2020 Georgia election results that gave the state to former President Joe Biden. Four of them — attorneys Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell and bail bondsman Scott Hall — pleaded guilty to charges related to the state case, according to Fulton County Superior Court records.
All received pardons from Trump on Monday, but those are largely symbolic in nature and would apply only in federal court. The pardons do not provide a shield from state prosecution, Peter Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia, said in a statement.
Georgia’s court proceedings have been in limbo since Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified from the case nearly a year ago due to her romantic relationship with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade. The Georgia Supreme Court in September declined to hear the case.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Council has until Friday to find another prosecutor. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has said that if one is not found, the case will be dismissed for “want of prosecution,” according to Skandalakis.
“My staff and I have been diligently working on this matter since the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the disqualification of the District Attorney’s Office,” Skandalakis said. “We will continue to carry out our responsibilities without being influenced by matters outside the scope of our assigned task, with the goal of complying fully with Judge McAfee’s order.”
Trump issued preemptive pardons to 77 people, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the president’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
The pardon proclamation claims it “ends a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people” following the 2020 election, in which Biden ousted Trump.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Republican running for governor, is on the list of those pardoned, along with others accused of drafting a list of “fake electors” that would have given Georgia’s electoral votes to Trump instead of Biden. None of the people on the list are currently facing federal charges.
Jones was not charged in the Georgia case but was mentioned as an unindicted co-conspirator.
