Trump’s Expanding Clemency Record
The Trump Pardons Giuliani move is only the latest in a string of controversial clemencies since Trump’s return to office. Last month, he pardoned Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, who had been convicted of failing to maintain anti–money laundering controls.
He also commuted the seven-year sentence of former Rep. George Santos, convicted of falsifying fundraising reports and expelled from Congress after facing 23 criminal counts, including wire fraud and identity theft.
Since the start of his second term, Trump’s clemency spree has included white-collar figures such as former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson, and reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley.
Echoes of January 6: The Largest Pardon in Modern History
Perhaps Trump’s most polarizing act of clemency remains his decision to pardon all 1,500 individuals convicted for storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, calling them “patriots who stood up for fair elections.”
Now, with his latest proclamation, the president has effectively extended that umbrella of absolution over nearly every figure tied to post-election legal fallout.
Whether this sweeping Trump Pardons Giuliani decree marks the end of years of election-related prosecutions — or ignites a new wave of constitutional clashes — remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: in Trump’s second term, the power of pardon has become his sharpest political weapon yet.
