The recent presidential pardons of figures who tried to overturn the 2020 election are part of a broader effort to rewrite one of the most sordid episodes in recent memory. The effort should be rejected, and the pardon power — abused by presidents of both parties for far too long — needs to be reined in.

Earlier this month, the president pardoned nearly 80 staffers, lawyers, officials, operatives and other allies who attempted to accomplish through artifice what the Jan. 6 rioters tried to do by force: reverse the voters’ verdict. Their collective effort to ignore the election results and adopt slates of fake electors was an affront to American democracy.

The scheme collapsed thanks to Vice President Mike Pence, who honored his oath to the Constitution rather than participate in the braz

See Full Page