Biden preemptively pardons family members, Trump foes
WASHINGTON—US President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons on Monday to former Covid pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley and close family members to shield them from “politically motivated prosecutions” under the Trump administration.
In an extraordinary move in his last hours in the White House, Biden gave similar pardons to former Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney and other members of the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters.
Biden also commuted to home confinement the life sentence of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, 80, who has been imprisoned for nearly 50 years for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents.
‘Rule of law’
“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” said Biden, whom Trump and his supporters accused of engaging in lawfare to persecute their political enemies.
Before he won back the White House in the election of November 2024—which also saw Republicans winning the Senate and the House of Representatives—Trump faced numerous lawsuits which he blamed on Biden and members of the Democratic Party who vowed to send him to jail.
In granting the preemptive pardons, Biden said “these are exceptional circumstances,” he said. “These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.”
‘Retribution’
Trump has repeatedly promised “retribution” against his political opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution.
Speaking after his inauguration, he condemned Biden’s pardons of the members of what he called the “unselect committee of political thugs,” saying they were “guilty of very bad crimes.”
Just minutes before Trump was sworn in, Biden announced he was issuing pardons to his brothers and in-laws.
Biden earlier granted unconditional pardon to his son.
