January 1, Trump Pardons Shake Up Jan 6 State Cases

Wyatt’s Take

• Trump issued sweeping pardons for allies tied to the 2020 election.
• Legal experts say the Supremacy Clause could help those facing state charges.
• The Biden administration is accused of targeting Trump supporters through law enforcement.

Trump has promised to help January 6 defendants and just delivered sweeping new pardons for many who questioned the 2020 election or served as alternate electors. Some have waited four years just to get their day in court.

Experts say these pardons could give real ammunition to defendants fighting state charges, thanks to the Supremacy Clause. They argue you can’t charge someone at the state level if the federal government doesn’t consider their actions criminal.

Mike Howell, a lawyer and director at The Oversight Project, said, “What’s happening in the states revolves around a federally-protected constitutional right, and so it shouldn’t be tried in the state context. So it’s a way to make that point of superseding through the Supremacy Clause. It’s a federal function that doesn’t belong in state court.”

Howell argued federal action can defend against what he sees as states acting on orders from Washington. He says, “Whether it’s Nathan Wade at the White House, and he can’t even remember his calls at the White House; whether it’s Jocelyn Benson up in Michigan saying on TV that everyone was united and working against a common enemy [Trump]; all the different state AGs and the federal government is how the Biden administration creatively weaponized law enforcement as they used whatever function they thought could get at it the quickest.”

On Friday, Trump handed out full pardons to Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, and over 70 other allies linked to the 2020 election challenge. Former Wisconsin judge Jim Troupis, a Trump campaign attorney, was also pardoned federally, but still faces state felony charges in Wisconsin. Troupis said, “There’s a fundamental issue here that this Justice Department is coming to grips with, which is federal preemption, or supremacy, in 2020 — what happened was we simply recommended that the president follow the rules that had been established for literally hundreds of years in the use of alternate delegates. It’s a part of the statutory structure. It’s part of the United States Constitution.”

Troupis argued there’s clear evidence of federal and state officials working together against Trump’s team, saying, “There is so much evidence of coordinated effort. Everyone knows that the January 6 Committee was all a part of a national plan. Everyone knows that Joe Biden and his supporters pushed [Wisconsin Attorney General] Josh Kaul to do this. These are open secrets in Washington.”

Troupis was thankful for the pardon but insists that real investigation should target those responsible. “It’s time for the investigation to get truly serious and go after these people. It was a coordinated effort, as Ed Martin has said in his memo today, to deny the right of the citizens of this country to petition the government in a presidential election.”

Trump called the pardons a correction to “a profound national injustice inflicted on the American people after the 2020 Presidential Election” and as a step toward “the ongoing healing of our nation.” The official announcement came from U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin.

Many defendants have been financially overwhelmed defending themselves. Howell pointed out the pardons might open the door for those hurt financially to get some payback.

Full Story Here

Wyatt Matters

Middle America knows fairness means everyone gets the same shot at justice, not just the folks in power. These pardons remind working people that political battles can hit home, and that standing up for your beliefs shouldn’t destroy your life or your wallet.