The President Joe Biden On Monday, pardons were granted to potential targets of the Trump administration, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley and lawmakers who served on the January 6 House Committee.
“Our nation relies on dedicated and selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy,” Biden said in a statement hours before he was elected president. Donald Trump the oath of office is taken.
“However, it is troubling that public officials have been subjected to constant threats and intimidation for the honest performance of their duties,” Biden added.
Trump repeatedly vowed “retribution” to his political enemies during the 2024 campaign, particularly singling out lawmakers like Liz Cheney who investigated the attack on the US Capitol. Trump said Cheney and other committee members should go to jail.
Milley, who is set to retire as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2023, has long been the target of Republican attacks over the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been a lightning rod for the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In this Nov. 29, 2021 file photo, Anthony Fauci (R), director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the president, speaks with U.S. President Joe Biden as he delivers remarks on the Omicron COVID-19 variant. Following a meeting of the COVID-19 response team at the White House in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, FILE
ABC News notify in early December that Biden was considering such an action, days after the pardon of Hunter Biden’s son. In an exit interview with USA Today earlier this month, Biden indicated that he was struggling with the decision.
Some Democrats argued against preemptive pardons, including Sen. Adam Schiff, who attended the January 6 House committee hearing.
“I think the precedent of issuing blanket pardons when you leave an administration is a precedent we don’t want to set,” Schiff. he said on ABC’s “This Week.” in december
Rep. Liz Cheney, center, speaks as Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, left, and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, listen during a hearing in Washington, DC. October 13, 2022.
Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE
But Biden, in his statement on Monday, expressed concern about attempts to rewrite the violence that occurred in the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that, ultimately, the strength of our legal institutions will prevail over politics,” Biden said. “But these are exceptional circumstances, and there is nothing I can do in good conscience. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of the people targeted and their families.”
“Therefore, I am using my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, members of Congress and staff members of the Select Committee, and officers from the US Capitol and the DC Metropolitan Police. They testified before the Select Committee,” he said. “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an admission by any person of any wrongdoing, nor should the admission be misconstrued as guilt of any crime. our country.”
