A prominent Democratic lawmaker and former President Biden himself issued a sweeping, preemptive pardon before Biden finally granted a pass to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley and their families in the 11th hour of his administration. was warning about.
“I think the precedent of granting a blanket pardon, of pre-emptively granting a blanket pardon when someone leaves office, is a precedent that we don't want to set,” the current senator said. Adam Schiff warned on ABC's “This Week” in December.
Biden ended his tenure in the Oval Office on Monday when President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. But hours before the inauguration, the White House announced pardons for both Fauci and Milley, as well as others involved in the January 6 task force investigation, whose names were not disclosed. It had not been done.
And just 22 minutes before leaving office, Biden also pardoned his family, including his brother James B. Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens, brother-in-law John T. Owens, and brother Francis W. Biden. gave. The former president previously granted a full pardon to his adult son Hunter Biden after he was convicted in two separate federal cases last year.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the president. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
In a statement pardoning his family, Biden said: “My family has been subjected to relentless attacks and threats motivated solely by a desire to harm me. It's partisan politics of the worst kind. Unfortunately, There is no reason to believe these attacks will end.” .
Speculation has grown that Mr. Biden will grant blanket or preemptive pardons to people considered to be Mr. Trump's political opponents, including former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Mr. Milley, Mr. Fauci, and members of the Biden family. was.
Democrats, from former President Bill Clinton to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), have warned Biden against granting such pardons in the waning days of his administration.
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Former President Bill Clinton speaks on stage in New York City on December 4, 2024. (Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images, The New York Times)
“If President Biden wanted to talk to me about it, I would talk to him about it. But I don't think I should publicly advise on pardon power. I think so too. Very It's personal, but yeah, I hope he doesn't do that,'' Clinton said of pre-emptive pardons on “The View.''
Sen. Dick Durbin speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the Capitol on December 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also warned against such pardons in an interview with CNN last month, saying, “When you talk about preemptive pardons, where do you start and end?”
Klobuchar expressed a similar sentiment that same month.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar warned against preemptive pardons. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“I'm not a fan of these [preemptive pardons]”I didn't like the president's pardon of his son. I didn't think it was wise. But I'm also very concerned about this idea of a preemptive pardon.”
Biden also opposed preemptive pardons before taking office in 2020, when speculation swirled that Trump might pardon his children and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
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“I'm concerned about what kind of precedent this sets and how the rest of the world views us as a nation of law and justice,” Biden said in a December 2020 interview with CNN. “I'm working on it,” he said.
President Trump ultimately did not pardon his adult children or the former New York mayor.
President Biden signs a proclamation to create a national monument at the White House on January 14, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Following the 11th-hour pardons for Milley, Fauci, task force staff and family members on January 6, political leaders and lawmakers, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, condemned the decision.
“One of Biden's biggest abuses of power was the enforcement of mRNA injections by law enforcement (which the state of Florida successfully blocked). Now Biden is on the go, with his chief and many others… You're absolving abuse. You're protecting the swamp. It's yours,” DeSantis, a Republican, said Monday.
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Fauci served as the national spokesperson for the country's pandemic response in 2020, advising then-President Trump on how to deal with the spread of the coronavirus in local communities.
Dr. Anthony Fauci appears before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on June 3, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
But his goodwill toward the president has waned over time, calling Trump and pandemic task force adviser Dr. Deborah Birx “two self-promoting people who are trying to rewrite history to hide their own bad instincts and wrong recommendations.” ” he accused.
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Fauci said Monday that he was grateful for the pardon, although he stressed that he “committed no crime.”
“I am truly grateful to President Biden for the actions he has taken on my behalf today,” Fauci told ABC News' Washington correspondent. Jonathan Carl.
“To be clear, John, I have not committed a crime. As you know, the allegations and threats of criminal investigation and prosecution against me are without merit,” he continued.
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Gen. Mark Milley speaks during a press conference at the Pentagon on July 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Seneta, File)
Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has also had controversial relationships with Trump and his supporters. Just before the November election, he called President Trump a “fascist” and “the most dangerous person to this country.”
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President Trump has repeatedly criticized Milley since leaving office, including after the failed U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, calling Milley “a leader in our country in Afghanistan and elsewhere.” You're a disgraced loser!''
After the election, Milley appeared to walk back from describing Trump as a “fascist” and said America would be “okay” under a second Trump administration.
Congresswoman Liz Cheney during a primary election night party on August 16, 2022 in Jackson, Wyoming. (Reuters/David Stubbs)
Former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney from Wyoming and Mississippi Democratic congressman Bennie Thompson, who served as the House special committee chair on January 6, were also targets of Trump's ire. Biden did not mention Cheney or Thompson by name in his statement, instead pardoning “officials who served on special committees.”
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Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, 2025. (Trump-Vance Transition Team)
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“Issuing a pardon should not be misconstrued as an admission that an individual has engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance of a pardon be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any crime,” Biden said in a White House statement. It shouldn't be done.” “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless service to our country.”
