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President Joe Biden has issued pre-emptive pardons to Dr Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley and the members of Congress who served on the House committee that investigated the attempted insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6 2021 in one of his final acts before leaving the White House, anticipating their political persecution by his incoming successor Donald Trump.
In a statement, Biden characterized each of the recipients as “dedicated, selfless public servants” on whom the nation relies “every day” and called them “the lifeblood of our democracy.”
He also condemned how they had been “subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties” by the president-elect and his allies, and noted that Trump and other prominent Republicans — including members of his incoming cabinet — have called for the recipients to be prosecuted for various actions they’ve taken while in government service and after.
“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,” Biden said.
He continued: “I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing.”
Biden also noted that “baseless and politically motivated investigations” can and do “wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.”
“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,” he said, adding that he was using his authority to grant pardons to Milley, Fauci, the members and staff of the House January 6 Select Committee, as well as a group of police officers who gave evidence before the panel, former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, and Washington, DC Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges and former officer Michael Fanone.
“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. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country,” Biden said.
Neither Dunn nor Gonell immediately responded to text messages from The Independent inquiring as to their reaction to the pardon announcement. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hodges — who still serves as a member of the DC police force — wrote that he was unable to comment as he was on duty for inauguration day.
The sweeping pardons are an unprecedented use of the outgoing president’s clemency powers, and will foreclose the possibility of any of the recipients becoming targets of criminal investigations during Trump’s second term.
It’s unclear whether all of the recipients will accept the grants of executive clemency. Under American law, a pardon must be freely accepted by the recipient in order to be effective. And some of the former House members who Biden has now pardoned, including former GOP representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, have said they would not accept a pardon because under the law the acceptance of a pardon is considered an admission of guilt.
Earlier this month, Kinzinger said he did not want to be pardoned during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert because he “didn’t do anything wrong.”
““If Donald Trump wants to come after me… Look, do I want him to come after me? Of course not. But if he decides to, I’ll be twice as much of a pain in his backside because I will, from my cell in jail, continue to remind the American people that this is not the country we live in, this was not the country the Constitution represents, and I will continue to call him out,” he said.
Biden’s last-minute use of his pardon power comes on the heels of another controversial grant of clemency to his son, Hunter Biden, who he absolved of a sweeping list of tax and other crimes committed over a decade-long period.
It’s likely one of the last official acts he will undertake before he leaves the White House for the final time as president and rides to the Capitol alongside Trump, who will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States at noon in the Capitol rotunda on Monday afternoon. Trump has previously hinted that he could seek revenge against his numerous political enemies after returning to the Oval Office.
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