President Biden's aides are reportedly considering granting preemptive pardons to current and former government officials ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration next month.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), U.S. Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Dr. Anthony Fauci and others have been discussed as potentially requiring a pardon before Trump takes office. He is one of the people who According to Politico.
Fauci has been accused by Republicans and watchdog groups of lying to Congress about the origins of the coronavirus and his use of a private email account for government business.
Cheney has been an outspoken critic of the president-elect and was a central figure in the House investigation into Trump's role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Schiff, who was elected to the U.S. Senate last month, has long accused the Trump campaign of colluding with Russia during the 2016 campaign.
Pardon talks are being led by White House Counsel Ed Siskel and include top Western officials, including Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, but Biden, 82, has not yet been involved in the deliberations, the newspaper reported Wednesday. Reported.
One concern being considered is whether granting blanket pardons to people who have not been charged with a crime suggests injustice.
White House officials also acknowledge that those offered preemptive pardons may decline them.
According to Politico, the discussion began after the White House was lobbied by Democrats in Congress, who feared that the 78-year-old President Trump could open criminal investigations and indict his political rivals after taking office. It is said that it arose from.
But Trump downplayed any interest in retaliation during his campaign.
“The country doesn't want that,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity in June, referring to the possibility of Biden being indicted after he leaves office.
President Trump also said on numerous occasions that he opposed prosecuting his 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton during his term, even as his supporters chanted for her to be “locked up.” I said this in public.
The president-elect, who regularly decries the “weaponization” of the Justice Department under the Biden-Harris administration, even suggested on the campaign trail that he would be open to pardoning the president's son Hunter.
Hunter, 54, received a full pardon from his father on Sunday, absolving him of all crimes he committed between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2024, including crimes for which he has not been charged.
The pardon comes after the White House and the president have repeatedly declared that Hunter will not be pardoned.
The eldest son pleaded guilty in September to nine criminal charges related to $1.4 million in unpaid taxes, was charged in June with possessing a firearm while under the influence of illegal drugs, and was found guilty on three federal gun charges. received the verdict.
The president claims he granted the pardon because Hunter “received different treatment” from his own Justice Department.
The White House did not respond to The Post's request for comment.
