In a landmark decision on his final day in office, President Joe Biden granted preemptive pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley, and members of the House committee that investigated the January 6 Capitol attack.
Biden’s action, aimed at safeguarding these individuals from potential retaliation by the incoming Trump administration, underscores his concerns about preserving democratic principles and protecting public servants from politically motivated prosecutions.
The pardons come in response to warnings from Donald Trump about targeting political opponents and those who sought to hold him accountable for his actions during and after the 2020 presidential election. Trump, set to assume office at noon, has pledged to pardon individuals involved in the violent Capitol insurrection, raising fears of widespread retribution.
“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,” Biden said in a statement. “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”
Among those pardoned is Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 40 years, including during Trump’s term in office and later served as Biden’s chief medical adviser until his retirement in 2022.
He helped coordinate the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and raised Trump’s ire when he resisted Trump’s untested public health notions. Fauci has since become a target of intense hatred and vitriol from people on the right, who blame him for mask mandates and other policies they believe infringed on their rights, even as hundreds of thousands of people were dying.
General Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also received a pardon. Milley called Trump a fascist and detailed Trump’s conduct around the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. He said he was grateful to Biden for a pardon so he no longer has to worry about “retribution.”
The pardons extend to members and staff of the January 6 Committee, including law enforcement officers who testified about the violent events of that day. The committee, co-led by Representative Bennie Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney, concluded its investigation by determining that Trump had engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol. The committee spent 18 months investigating Trump and the insurrection.
“Rather than accept accountability, those who perpetrated the January 6th attack have taken every opportunity to undermine and intimidate those who participated in the Select Committee in an attempt to rewrite history, erase the stain of January 6th for partisan gain, and seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions,” Biden said.
Biden, who has repeatedly warned about the threats posed by Trump’s return to power, defended the unprecedented nature of his decision. “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,” the president said, adding that the pardons were necessary to protect democracy and uphold the rule of law.
The move has sparked debate over its implications for the use of presidential pardon powers, with critics arguing it sets a contentious precedent. Biden’s decision to preemptively pardon individuals who have not been formally charged reflects his belief in the gravity of the threats posed by Trump’s promises of retribution.
Biden’s presidency concludes with a record-breaking number of pardons and commutations. He announced on Friday he would be commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses.
He previously announced he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. In his first term, Trump presided over an unprecedented spate of executions, 13, in a protracted timeline during the coronavirus pandemic.
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