Biden Grants Preemptive Pardons to Milley, Fauci, and Others
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
On the morning of his last day in office, President Joe Biden announced that he was granting preemptive, “full and unconditional” pardons to a range of public servants as well as to five named members of his immediate family.
In separate announcements, one for the public servants and another for his family, he said that the former had “been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties,” while the latter had “been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me.”
Among the public servants, the only recipients singled out by name were the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who served as Biden’s chief medical advisor during the pandemic. Biden issued an individual pardon to each of them.
A third pardon was issued collectively to the “Members of Congress” and “staff” who served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol and to “the police officers from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department or the U.S. Capitol Police who testified before” that committee.
The family members pardoned consist of Biden’s brother, James Biden; James’ wife, Sara; Biden’s sister, Valerie T. Owens; Valerie’s husband, John T. Owens; and Biden’s other brother, Francis T. Biden.
It is not known how many, if any, of the individuals being offered pardons will accept them.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing,” Biden wrote each announcement, “nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”
The Jan. 6 committee included nine members of Congress as well as more than 60 staff members, according to its final report. The nine members of the committee (in the order listed therein) included chairman Bennie G. Thompson; vice chair Liz Cheney; Zoe Lofgren; Adam B. Schiff; Pete Aguilar; Stephanie N. Murphy; Jamie Raskin; Elaine G. Luria; and Adam Kinzinger.
The police officers who testified included U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn; USCP Officer (now sergeant) Caroline Edwards; Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Fanone; USCP Sergeant Aquilino Gonell; and MPD Officer Danny Hodges.
Read the Fauci pardon here or below:
Read the Milley pardon here or below:
Read the pardon relating to the Select Committee here or below:
Read the pardon to Biden’s five family members here or below:
