20 January 2025 , 16:35
498
0
Decision by Biden comes after Trump warned of enemies list, including people who investigated Capitol attack.
Joe Biden has issued pre-emptive pardons for Anthony Fauci, retired Gen Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, using the extraordinary powers of his office in his final hours to guard against potential “revenge” by the incoming Trump administration.
The pardons included two leading Republicans who have been critical of Trump, former representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and who could face reprisals from the incoming president.
“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.”
While it is usual for presidents to grant clemency at the end of their terms, Biden’s decision extends the presidential pardons to those who have not been investigated. It also sets up a future political and judicial crisis, if Trump seeks to go after them.
“These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” Biden said in the statement. “Even when individuals have done nothing wrong – and in fact have done the right thing – and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.”
The decision by Biden comes after Donald Trump warned of an enemies list filled with those who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and his role in the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. Trump has selected Cabinet nominees who backed his election lies and who have pledged to punish those involved in efforts to investigate him.
Fauci, who helped coordinate the nation’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, raised the ire of Trump when he refused to back Trump’s unfounded claims. He has 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 tens of thousands of Americans were dying.
Mark Milley is the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and called Trump a fascist and detailed Trump’s conduct around the Capitol insurrection.
In a statement, Milley said he was “deeply grateful” for Biden’s action. “After 43 years of faithful service in uniform to our nation, protecting and defending the constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,” he said.
Biden also extended pardons to staff of the January 6 committee that investigated the attack, as well as the US Capitol and DC Metropolitan police officers who testified before the House committee about their experiences that day, when the Capitol was overrun by an angry, violent mob of Trump supporters.
The committee spent 18 months investigating Trump and the insurrection.
Former Capitol police officer Harry Dunn, who became an outspoken critic of Trump, told CBS News: “I wish this pardon weren’t necessary, but unfortunately, the political climate we are in now has made the need for one somewhat of a reality. I, like all other public servants, was just doing my job and upholding my oath. I will always honor that.”
Biden has set the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued. He announced on Friday he would commute the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses.