Just minutes before he leaves office, Biden pardons his siblings and their spouses
BREAKING: Biden pardons his family. pic.twitter.com/efniD6TOds
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) January 20, 2025
President Joe Biden on Monday issued preemptive pardons for prominent critics of President-elect Donald Trump and members of his own family, using extraordinary executive prerogative as a shield against revenge by his incoming successor.
Clemency for Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, was announced early Monday morning. Minutes before Trump was to be inaugurated as the nation’s 47th president, Biden also issued pardons for members of his family.
The pardons, coming in the final hours of Biden’s presidency, amount to a stunning flex of presidential power that is unprecedented in recent presidential history. They serve to protect several outspoken critics of the incoming president, including former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, whom Trump has vowed retribution against.
“These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” Biden wrote in a statement about the initial batch of pardons, issued hours before he was set to welcome Trump to the White House for tea before attending his swearing-in. “Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.”
In announcing the second wave of pardons, Biden said, “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.”
Biden: Protection outweighs implication
Biden had been weighing issuing the pardons in the waning days of his presidency, concerned Trump would enter office and immediately seek to prosecute his adversaries. In his statement, he spelled out his rationale, saying “alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties.”
The recipients of Biden’s pardons have all faced intense criticism from Trump and his 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, and Milley served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s first term and has warned Trump is a fascist.CNN
President Joe Biden on Monday pardoned his siblings and their spouses, saying his family had been “subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics.”
“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me—the worst kind of partisan politics,” President Joe Biden wrote in a statement. “Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”
He issued a slew of pardons and commutations in the moments before leaving office, including for aides and allies that have been targeted by Donald Trump. None have been charged with any crimes.
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