On January 20, and within hours before Donald Trump was sworn in as President, President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons for Army General Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and all the members of the Congressional Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, using the president’s sweeping powers as a shield against revenge prosecutions by incoming President Donald Trump. The pardons are a stunning flex of presidential power that is unprecedented in American presidential history. The pardons serve to protect several outspoken critics of Trump, including former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, whom Trump has vowed retribution against. President Joe Biden also issued preemptive pardons for 3 of his siblings and two of their spouses, citing concerns that they will be targeted by “baseless and politically motivated investigations.”
Biden wrote in a statement, issued hours before he was set to welcome Trump to the White House, before attending Trump’s swearing-in:
“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. … Even when individuals have done nothing wrong — and in fact have done the right thing — and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. … Alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”
President Biden has been weighing issuing the pardons in the last days of his presidency, concerned Trump would enter office and immediately seek to criminally prosecute his adversaries. All the recipients of Biden’s pardons have faced intense criticism from Trump and his MAGA allies. Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Disease for decades, including during the outbreak of Covid in Trump’s first presidency. Retired General Mark Milley served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s first term and warned Trump is a fascist.
As he weighed preemptive pardons over the past several days, President Biden has made clear in conversations with aides that he does not believe those who received the pardons were guilty of any crimes. They have voiced concern that pardoning them could connote guilt. Biden put aside those concerns with the view that providing protection would outweigh the potential implication of guilt. None of those on Biden’s list appeared at risk of imminent legal action, but Biden believed the threat was real enough that protection was necessary.
Multiple members of Congress who served on the January 6 Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol were stunned to learn of Biden’s decision to pardon them. They did not receive a heads-up that it was happening and one person said they still do not even know what the pardon is for.
BIDEN PARDONS FAMILY MEMBERS
President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons for 3 of his siblings and two of their spouses, citing concerns that they will be targeted by “baseless and politically motivated investigations.” The White House announced the pardons just minutes before President-elect Donald Trump entered the Capitol rotunda to be sworn in as the next commander in chief. Biden in early December issued a pardon for his son Hunter Biden, reversing his prior insistence that would not do so. Biden’s pardons included his brother, James Biden; James’ wife, Sara Jones Biden; his younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens; Owens’ husband, John Owens; and his other brother, Francis Biden.
Biden said this in a press release:
“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me—the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.
I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics.
But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances.
That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden.
The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”
Links to quoted or relied upon news sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/20/biden-pardons-family-members.html
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5095569-biden-family-pardons-oversight-committee/
TRUMP’S THREATS OF RETALIATION
Throughout his campaign, Trump threatened to prosecute Democrats, election workers, law enforcement officials, intelligence officials, reporters, former members of his own staff and Republicans who do not support him, often without identifying any specific criminal activity. Trump has said he would “appoint a real special prosecutor to go after” President Biden and his family.
Trump said on social media that Ms. Cheney “should be prosecuted for what she has done to our country” and that the whole January 6 committee “should be prosecuted for their lies and, quite frankly, TREASON!” He has suggested that General Milley deserved execution because he called a Chinese counterpart after Jan. 6 to warn Beijing against taking advantage of the crisis in Washington.
Although Trump has suggested that he might not follow through on his threats, saying that success as president would be the true retribution allies he has tapped to run the Justice Department and F.B.I. are considered MAGA partisan extremists for him, and their selections, which still need to be confirmed by the Senate, have alarmed many of Trump’s critics and indicated that he is serious about reprisals.
For attorney general, Mr. Trump chose Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who echoed his false claims about the 2020 election. For F.B.I. director, he has named Kash Patel, a firebrand operative who has vowed to “come after” Mr. Trump’s critics in the media and identified his own list of 60 people he considers “deep state” obstacles to the incoming president.
Earlier this month, President Biden told reporters one factor weighing in his decision was whether Trump telegraphed any of his intentions for possible prosecution of his political opponents in the days leading up to his inauguration. Biden said this:
“It depends on some of the language and expectations that Trump broadcasts in the last couple of days here as to what he’s going to do. … The idea that he would punish people for not adhering to what he thinks should be policy as it related to his well-being is outrageous.”
In an interview with USA Today, Biden said he told Trump during their Oval Office meeting shortly after the president-elect’s November victory that “there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores.”
RECIPENTS REACTION TO BEING PARDON
Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was “very appreciative” of the preemptive pardon, though he didn’t ask for it and Fauci said this:
“I really truly appreciate the action President Biden has taken today on my behalf. … Let me be perfectly clear. … I have committed no crime, you know that, and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me. … The fact is, however, that the mere articulation of these baseless threats, and the potential that they will be acted upon, create immeasurable and intolerable distress for me and my family,”
Retired General Mark Milley said in a statement that he and his family were “deeply grateful” for Biden’s action said this in a statement:
“After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights. … I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety.”
Former Capitol Hill police officer Harry Dunn expressed his thanks to Biden for the decision and said this in a statement:
“I am eternally grateful to President Joe Biden, not just for this preemptive pardon, but for his leadership and service to this nation, especially over the last four years. I wish this pardon weren’t necessary, but unfortunately, the political climate we are in now has made the need for one somewhat of a reality. I, like all of the other public servants, was just doing my job and upholding my oath, and I will always honor that.”
Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois who served on the January 6 committee along with Ms. Cheney, said on CNN he would not welcome a pardon arguing that accepting them would give the impression that they had done something wrong. Kinzinger said this:
“As soon as you take a pardon, it looks like you are guilty of something. .. I am guilty of nothing besides bringing the truth to the American people and, in the process, embarrassing Donald Trump. Because for 187 minutes, he sat there and did absolutely nothing and showed how weak and scared he truly was. So no, I don’t want it.”
Links to quoted and relied upon news sources are here:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/20/politics/joe-biden-preemptive-pardons/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/biden-pardons-fauci-milley-cheney-jan-6.html
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Biden’s Presidential pardons will protect those who received them from congressional investigation and federal criminal prosecution but not other types of investigation, such as tax inquiry, if those were to arise by a vindictive Trump and members of his MAGA Justice Department. The Presidential pardons will protect them from federal criminal charges which Trump and his FBI Director designate Kash Pitel have promised.
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