President Donald Trump issued pardons for more than 70 people accused of seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. 

The move largely has been viewed as a symbolic gesture, as the presidential pardons only cover federal charges and those involved don’t have any federal charges leveled against them.

Among those pardoned were Trump allies like the president’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who peddled claims that the 2020 election was «stolen» from Trump and is embroiled in a case in Arizona where he faces state charges for election interference.

Although the pardons cannot extend to state charges like those Giuliani faces in Arizona, the pardons could pave the way for some to attempt to redeem their reputation, according to Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.

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Olson said that while the pardon itself cannot reverse a disbarment, loss of license or loss of employment, the pardon could provide fuel for the pardon beneficiaries to pursue reconsideration of these consequences.

«What other purpose is served by pardoning someone who hasn’t been charged with any federal crime?» Olson said in a Tuesday email to Fox News Digital. «Some of the beneficiaries will treat this gesture as if it vindicates their good name, or establishes that they should not have been disbarred or disgraced. But those are not things a presidential pardon can do.»

For example, Giuliani was disbarred in both New York and Washington in 2024. The Manhattan appeals court in New York determined in July 2024 that Giuliani routinely made inaccurate statements about the 2020 election, and the decision said that he «baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process.»

Even so, Olson said that there could be some benefit for those pardoned — even if they don’t face federal charges — in the event it could protect them from prosecution from a future administration. However, those benefits could be limited in this instance, he said.

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While proponents of the pardons claim that they restore justice, critics have blasted the pardons as an attempt to undermine democracy. (Adam Gray/AFP via Getty Images)

«That angle is less important if the passage of time has meant that prosecution would be barred anyway by relevant statutes of limitation, as is likely to be the case with many charges here,» Olson said.

While proponents of the pardons claim that they restore justice, critics have blasted the pardons as an attempt to undermine democracy.

«First, Trump pardoned the violent insurrectionists who beat cops. Now, he pardons the key instigators of January 6th,» Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a Monday social media post. «We need to see this for what it is: An attempt to erase history, so it can be repeated.»

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Meanwhile, Giuliani’s team claimed that he didn’t seek a pardon from Trump, but argued that the pardon is grounds for Giuliani to have his bar license restored.

«Mayor Rudy Giuliani stands by his work following the 2020 presidential election, when he responded to the legitimate concerns of thousands of everyday Americans,» Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani, said in a Monday post on X. 

«Mayor Giuliani never sought a pardon but is deeply grateful for President Trump’s decision,» Goodman said. «This action further highlights the years of unjust attacks against the mayor and so many others, and reinforces what should now be clear to everyone—Mayor Giuliani deserves to have his bar license immediately reinstated without delay.»

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Rudy Giuliani, the former personal lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump, departs the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. District Courthouse on December 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The White House did not provide comment to Fox News Digital on why the pardons were issued now, but compared charges Trump allies faced to «communist tactics.»

«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 a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. «Getting prosecuted for challenging results is something that happens in communist Venezuela, not the United States of America, and President Trump is putting an end to the Biden Regime’s communist tactics once and for all.»

Other prominent figures pardoned include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell. Justice Department Pardon Attorney Ed Martin announced the pardons Sunday. 

Trump previously has issued pardons for those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which occurred as Congress was poised to certify the 2020 election results.

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In January, just hours after his inauguration, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 charged with crimes stemming from the attack. Among those were Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader, who faced a sentence of 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

As President Donald Trump warns of «zero tolerance» for narco-states in America’s backyard, China is tightening its grip on Venezuela — a high-risk economic and political bet that could soon collide with U.S. power.

U.S. defense officials confirmed to Reuters last month that a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group had entered the Southern Command region, which covers the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America, to monitor narcotrafficking routes linked to Venezuela’s military leadership.

The Pentagon said the arrival of USS Gerald R. Ford, carrying more than 4,000 sailors and dozens of tactical aircraft, would «bolster US capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities.» It added that the mission aims to «degrade and dismantle transnational criminal organizations.»

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Within weeks, Venezuelan officers were reportedly training for guerrilla-style defense against a possible U.S. strike — an acknowledgment, according to Reuters, of «rising anxiety inside Caracas.»

Into this standoff, Beijing unveiled a «zero-tariff» trade agreement with Caracas at the Shanghai Expo 2025, announced by Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade Coromoto Godoy. Venezuelan officials said the accord covers roughly 400 tariff categories, removing duties on Chinese and Venezuelan goods.

While final implementation details remain pending verification, the goal is clear: Beijing is moving fast into a sanctioned economy that Washington has sought to isolate.

«This really looks like China is going to completely take over the Venezuelan economy,» said Gordon Chang, an expert on China’s global trade strategy. «It’s going to decimate Venezuela’s local industry.»

«Venezuela basically sells petroleum to China and very little else,» he said. «China, of course, is a manufacturer of many, many items. Venezuelan manufacturing is not going to experience a renaissance anytime soon — it’s going the opposite direction.»

VENEZUELA MOBILIZES TROOPS, WEAPONS IN RESPONSE TO US WARSHIP BUILDUP IN CARIBBEAN

Sailors aboard the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), launch a Carrier Air Wing 8 F/A-18E Super Hornet attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 31 from the flight deck, Sept. 26, 2025. (Mariano Lopez)

Chang added that Maduro’s sudden embrace of Beijing stems from fear of Trump’s next move.

«Maduro probably doesn’t have a choice,» he said. «He realizes he’s got a problem in the form of Donald J. Trump. There’s a U.S. aircraft carrier not far from his shores, and a lot of military assets bearing down on him. He needs a friend, and he’s desperate.»

«For Maduro, the zero-tariff pact may offer temporary relief — but it only deepens dependence,» Chang added. «I don’t see this trade deal as strengthening Venezuela. I see it strengthening China’s stranglehold over Venezuela.»

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From Beijing’s perspective, the tariff-free pact opens a commercial and strategic doorway into the Western Hemisphere just as Washington doubles down on sanctions.

The Council on Foreign Relations estimates that China has extended around $60 billion in loans to Venezuela over the past two decades, much of it repaid through oil shipments — a figure still cited by both Chinese and Venezuelan officials in 2025.

Members of the Bolivarian National Militia patrol on a street in the 23 de Enero neighborhood during a military exercise, in Caracas, Venezuela, January 23, 2025. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)

«China has leveraged multibillion-dollar loans and the establishment of satellite positioning and surveillance facilities to secure strategic control over Venezuela’s natural resources and critical infrastructure,» said Isaias Medina III, an Edward Mason Fellow at Harvard University and a former Venezuelan diplomat to the U.N. Security Council.

Medina was referring to the El Sombrero satellite ground station in Venezuela’s Guárico province — a joint China-Venezuela project that Western analysts, including a recent Associated Press report, describe as part of a wider space cooperation network giving Beijing an intelligence foothold in Latin America.

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Medina said the new pact must be understood as one layer in a wider anti-Western alignment.

«Under the banner of so-called ‘21st Century Socialism,’ initiated by Hugo Chávez and expanded by Nicolás Maduro, the nation has evolved into a forward operating base for regimes openly hostile to the United States and its allies,» he said.

«Iran, Russia, China, and Cuba have entrenched themselves across Venezuelan territory, using the country as a platform for asymmetric warfare, intelligence operations, and ideological expansion throughout Latin America.»

President Nicolas Maduro stands in front of a portrait of Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez.  (AP Photo/Miraflores Press Office, File)

He noted that «Russia’s military footprint includes more than $12 billion in arms sales and ongoing defense cooperation and Wagner Group presence in military exercises,» while Cuban military advisers remain embedded inside Venezuelan security institutions.

«Iran has exploited this environment to embed terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas, using Venezuela as both a financial hub and a logistical corridor. These activities extend to former training camps in Syria, where Venezuelan operatives and mercenaries have been indoctrinated in hybrid warfare tactics,» he added. «Iranian interest includes potential drone manufacturing and uranium mining.»

«The Maduro government, shielded by the absence of the rule of law or legitimate governance, has replaced statecraft with criminal enterprise,» Medina said. «Grand corruption is not the exception; it is the system.»

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has yet to publicly comment on the strike. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)

«The humanitarian toll is catastrophic,» he added. «Over 30% of Venezuela’s population has been forcibly displaced. Starvation has been weaponized as a tool of social control, amounting to a war crime under international law. Despite the enormity of these crimes, many United Nations member states continue to recognize and engage with this illegitimate regime, thereby perpetuating its impunity. The failure to confront this crisis decisively enables a coalition of adversaries, state and non-state actors alike, to project power dangerously close to U.S. territory.»

For now, Washington’s sanctions campaign still constrains Venezuela’s oil lifelines. In March 2025, Reuters reported that U.S. threats to impose tariffs on nations buying Venezuelan crude caused a temporary disruption in shipments to China. Beijing dismissed the measures as «illegal extraterritorial actions» and vowed to continue cooperation — but has not disclosed how it will enforce the new tariff-free pact.

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The Maduro administration is seeking to rally government supporters amidst a sagging economy and refugee crisis. (Jesus Vargas/AP Photo)

Chang said the underlying reality hasn’t changed: China can’t protect Caracas from U.S. hard power.

«It can certainly launch a propaganda blitz,» he said, «but it can’t project military force in the region. It’s really up to what President Trump does. China does not have the military strength to oppose American intervention if that’s what Trump decides.»

Medina agreed that the stakes reach beyond economics. «Just three hours from U.S. shores, this narco-terrorist regime has become the operational convergence of organized crime, drug trafficking, money laundering, and human rights atrocities,» he said, urging a Western response combining «diplomatic isolation, targeted sanctions, and, when necessary, defensive deployments.»

El traslado esta semana de siete jefes de la organización criminal Comando Vermelho (CV) a prisiones federales marca un hito operativo en la estrategia del Estado brasileño por debilitar una de las bandas más poderosas del país. La decisión fue adoptada tras la mega­operación policial que se saldó con 121 muertos en favelas del norte de Río de Janeiro.

La medida, ordenada por la Justicia, implicó sacar a los detenidos de las cárceles locales —en el estado de Río de Janeiro— y ubicarlos en centros penitenciarios de gestión federal, fuera de la jurisdicción regional. Según la agencia EFE, todos ellos tienen condenas superiores a 30 años.

El trasfondo inmediato es la operación llevada a cabo en las favelas de Penha y Complexo do Alemão, zonas en las que el CV “ocupa” o controla al menos de facto amplios espacios territoriales. Las autoridades atribuyen a esos siete presos la capacidad de dirigir —aun desde prisión— las operaciones de la banda en Río de Janeiro.

Según el gobierno regional de Río, cuatro de los 121 muertos eran policías y el resto supuestos miembros del CV, aunque esa cifra está bajo investigación. EFE informa que “las autoridades presumen que, aún desde la prisión, esos siete presos … dirigían las actividades del Comando Vermelho en Río de Janeiro”.

El traslado se ejecutó con un fuerte operativo de seguridad a cargo de la Polícia Federal, que ahora asume la custodia de los detenidos. El Ministerio de Justicia de Brasil precisó que los presos ocuparán celdas individuales, sin contacto con otros reclusos, permanecerán aislados 22 horas al día y solo dos horas saldrán al patio, bajo vigilancia estricta.

Según el ministerio, el traslado “fue ejecutado bajo los más altos estándares de seguridad, con una planificación detallada”. La ubicación exacta de los centros federales no fue informada por motivos de seguridad.

El fondo de esta estrategia es claro: golpear la capacidad de mando del CV desde el interior del sistema penitenciario, cortar sus vínculos con la calle y disminuir su operatividad territorial. Esa banda, fundada hace más de tres décadas en Río de Janeiro, ha sido tradicionalmente una de las fuerzas criminales con mayor implantación en las favelas cariocas.

Esta maniobra llega tras uno de los operativos más letales de la historia de Río de Janeiro: el despliegue policial del 28 de octubre de 2025 que dejó al menos 121 muertos, incluidos cuatro agentes.

Organismos de derechos humanos han cuestionado el operativo: Amnesty International lo calificó de “masacre” y pidió una investigación “independiente e imparcial”, advirtiendo signos de ejecuciones extrajudiciales y la violencia sistemática en contextos de segregación.

La crítica principal es doble: primero, que en el dispositivo policial murieron muchas personas cuya identidad y vínculo real con el CV no han sido confirmados, segundo, que hay una persistente impunidad en los operativos de seguridad en favelas. Un análisis reciente apunta que de las víctimas muchas eran jóvenes negros en barrios pobres, lo que añade la dimensión del racismo estructural.

Para el Estado, la prisión federal de estos jefes es una jugada funcional: aislar a los mandos, cortar el mando interno y enviar un mensaje de que “nadie está fuera del alcance”. Pero el éxito dependerá del seguimiento: aislarlos no basta si la red de la calle sigue intacta y la corrupción policial o la complicidad social no son abordadas.

También está la cuestión de la legitimidad: un Estado democrático debe investigar con transparencia los operativos letales, garantizar derechos y evitar que la violencia estatal se sume al ciclo de crimen. De lo contrario, la frontera entre la lucha contra el crimen y la aplicación arbitraria de la fuerza se vuelve difusa.

En el contexto del crimen organizado brasileño, el CV no es una anomalía: convive con otras facciones como Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) y se inserta en la lógica de control territorial, tráfico de drogas y extorsión.

En definitiva, el traslado de estos siete jefes del Comando Vermelho articula una escalada del diseño estatal frente al crimen organizado: endurecer la cárcel, aislar a los líderes y afrontar la violencia urbana como problema de seguridad. Pero al mismo tiempo plantea la pregunta sobre cuántas muertes más serán compensadas por una política que necesita legitimar tanto lo que hace como lo que deja sin hacer.