WASHINGTON – Hours before his four-year term ends, President Joe Biden early Monday morning pardoned several officials and lawmakers who had been the target of threats of retaliation from up-to-date President-elect Donald Trump, as well as several of his family members.
Biden pardoned retired Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police officers who testified before the committee.
“I believe in the rule of law and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. However, these are exceptional circumstances and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations are wreaking havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families,” Biden said in a statement on Monday.
“Even if a person did nothing wrong — and in fact did the right thing — and is ultimately acquitted, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can cause irreparable reputational and financial harm,” Biden said.
Just last month, during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” Trump said he said that Republican Bennie Thompson and former Rep. Liz Cheney “lied” and “should go to jail.” Mississippi Democrats and Wyoming Republicans led the panel that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
That day, a violent mob of Trump supporters marched into the Capitol — at Trump’s instigation — and attacked more than 140 police officers, causing more than $2.8 million in damage to the Capitol, according to the Justice Department.
Trump has promised to pardon people convicted of or pleading guilty to charges related to the attack, calling them “hostages,” “patriots” and “warriors.” According to the Department of Justice’s latest report, approximately 1,580 people have been charged figurines.
Former Sgt. US Capitol Police. Aquilino Gonell, who was one of the law enforcement officers who testified before the commission on January 6, he wrote on Sunday X that “The law and order guy will soon pardon those who attacked the police. A total of over 40 rioters attacked me that day.
Milley was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the first Trump administration and worked in the Oval Office until Biden. A retired general is on the list describing Trump as a “fascist” and “would-be dictator.”
Milley became the target of Trump’s ire after that rejected Trump’s orders – among them a recommendation to send the military to quell protests in Washington during a wave of nationwide demonstrations following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Trump called for political revenge against Milley. According to journalist Bob Woodward, the retired general has received a “nonstop barrage of death threats” since his retirement.
Fauci, who led the United States as the top medical expert during the Covid-19 pandemic, has also been a target of attacks for years threats AND investigations from Republicans in Congress.
Trump launched partisan attacks on Fauci and in 2020 began calling out the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, calling him a “total disaster.”
Apologies to the Biden family
Minutes before Trump took the oath of office, the White House announced that Biden had issued advance pardons to his siblings and their spouses.
They include James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens and Francis W. Biden.
“My family has been the victim of merciless attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to harm me – which is the worst kind of partisan politics. “Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe that these attacks will end,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden said pardons (*6*)
Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said in a statement that “a preemptive pardon for the Biden crime family serves as an admission of its corruption because it sold out the American people to enrich itself. “
The Comer Commission limped along for years as it investigated Biden, which the GOP-led panel said led to Biden’s impeachment, which never happened.
Comer said his committee’s investigation “will be remembered as one of the most successful ever conducted by Congress.”
Last updated: 12:33, January 20, 2025
