Biden pardons his family and Trump critics, stirring debate over preemptive reprieves
In his final hours in office, President Joe Biden issued a protective pardon to cover dozens of people facing a potential legal investigation by the incoming Trump administration.
Recipients ranged from members of the January 6 Commission and their staff to Capitol Police who testified about the Capitol riot. Mr. Biden also singled out Gen. Mark Milley, who served under President Donald Trump, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, who managed the COVID-19 pandemic under Presidents Trump and Biden.
Why did we write this?
President Joe Biden has been criticized for pardoning his son Hunter to protect him from political retaliation. Now, Biden’s eleventh-hour preemptive pardon of his family and Trump critics raises more questions.
Outgoing President Biden also pardoned five members of his family.
Critics say that no president has issued so many belated pardons to individuals who have not yet been convicted of crimes — or even investigated — and that this sets a bad precedent.
Supporters countered that the incoming president has never threatened political enemies like incoming President Trump.
“The scales of justice will be rebalanced,” President Trump said in his inaugural address on Monday.
Some beneficiaries of the amnesty expressed their gratitude. Others expressed concern about the precedent for future presidents. Mr. Biden was one of the people involved.
In December 2020, amid reports that then-President Trump was considering pardoning his family, Biden said He told CNN That preventive amnesty is “Concer”.[n] For me, in terms of the kind of precedent it sets.
He added: “You will not see this type of approach to pardons in our administration.”
In a sweeping measure of presidential power in his final hours in office, President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons to more than a dozen people who faced the threat of legal investigation by the incoming Trump administration.
Beneficiaries ranged from members of the January 6 Commission and their staff to Capitol Police who testified about the events of the Capitol riot. Mr. Biden also singled out Gen. Mark Milley, who served under President Donald Trump, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, who managed the COVID-19 pandemic under Presidents Trump and Biden. The outgoing president also pardoned five members of his family.
Although a presidential pardon technically falls within the limits of presidential pardon power, no president has issued so many belated pardons to individuals who have not yet been convicted of crimes — or even investigated. Supporters of the preemption counter that the next president has never threatened legal action against his political enemies in the way that new President Donald Trump did.
Why did we write this?
President Joe Biden has been criticized for pardoning his son Hunter to protect him from political retaliation. Now, Biden’s eleventh-hour preemptive pardon of his family and Trump critics raises more questions.
In his inaugural address on Monday, President Trump reiterated his view that the four criminal indictments — and convictions on one set of charges — resulted from persecution of the late president rather than his actions.
“The scales of justice will be rebalanced,” President Trump said. “The evil, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Department of Justice and our government will end.”
Regardless, what is beyond doubt is that Mr. Biden has pushed the power of presidential pardons to new heights. While some pardon recipients expressed gratitude, others expressed concern about the precedent a pardon could set for Mr. Trump and future presidents, who already enjoy broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts.
Little precedent for a preventive presidential pardon
Article II of the Constitution gives the president the power to “grant pardons and pardons for crimes against the United States.” While previous presidents have issued pardons to people who have not yet been charged with crimes, there are few precedents for the preemptive pardons Biden issued during his final 24 hours in the White House.
It is not his first time on a preventive pardon. Last month, Mr. Biden pardoned his son Hunter before sentencing him on federal weapons felonies and tax fraud charges. The pardon included any crimes he may have committed during the past decade.
On Monday morning, in the final hours of his term, President Biden also issued preemptive pardons to other individuals frequently criticized by Mr. Trump and his supporters.
General Milley and Dr. Fauci received full and unconditional pardons “for any crimes” they may have committed over the past decade. Members of the January 6 Commission and their staff, as well as police officers who testified before the Commission, received full pardons for any crimes “arising out of or in any matter relating to” the work of the Commission investigating the Capitol attack. Meanwhile, five members of Biden’s immediate family received full pardons for any non-violent crimes they may have committed over the past decade.
Not everyone supported these measures. Sen. Adam Schiff of California, who served on the Jan. 6 committee when he was in Congress, said last month that he did not want a preemptive pardon. “This is unnecessary,” he told ABC News. He added that granting “a comprehensive, preventive pardon on the way out of the administration is a precedent that we do not want to set.” Trump previously threatened to prosecute Senator Schiff and other members of the committee, including former Republican Representative Liz Cheney, who was also pardoned by Mr. Biden.
But other beneficiaries of the amnesty expressed their appreciation.
Hannah Pierre – Reuters – Archive
Gen. Milley — the nation’s highest-ranking military official during the final year of Mr. Trump’s first term, and who has become a prominent critic of the re-elected president — said in a statement that he was “deeply grateful” for the pardon. He said he was grateful to be relieved from “fighting those who would unjustly seek retaliation for perceived slights,” adding that he did not want to put “my family, friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction and expense.” And anxiety.”
Dr. Fauci, whose handling of the country’s response to the pandemic has been condemned by critics, echoed those sentiments. Earlier Monday, he told CNN that he “very much appreciates” the preemptive pardon. “We did nothing wrong,” he added, “but the baseless accusations and threats are real for me and my family.”
Beginning in 2021, Mr. Trump began making public comments that General Milley should be tried for treason. Several prominent Republicans have said Dr. Fauci should be prosecuted for his handling of the country’s pandemic response.
In the long run, however, Biden’s preemptive pardon could cast more doubt on its recipients than it alleviates. In a social media post this morning, Republican Sen. Rand Paul said pardoning Dr. Fauci “would only accelerate the piercing of the veil of deception” around the pandemic. He added: “I will not rest until the full truth of the cover-up is revealed.”
“The strangest year in the history of the pardon authority”
Mr. Biden is not the first president to pardon people who have not yet been convicted of crimes. President Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon before he could stand trial in the wake of the Watergate scandal. President Jimmy Carter issued a comprehensive preemptive pardon to those accused of avoiding the draft in the Vietnam War. President Andrew Johnson issued a blanket pardon to former Confederate soldiers after the Civil War.
But the timing and scope of these pardons — including that of Hunter Biden — has some experts concerned.
“This may be the strangest year in the history of the pardon power,” says Mark Osler, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law who studies sentencing and clemency.
He adds that Biden’s pardon “includes people who have not only not been charged, but seem unlikely to be convicted of anything.” “He ignored hundreds of others who had good cases for clemency, who followed the rules, who petitioned, and got nothing.”
Mr. Biden also issued several traditional pardons before leaving the White House. Perhaps most notable was the expansion of clemency toward Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who was imprisoned for 50 years despite serious doubts about his guilt in the 1970s. Mr. Peltier will be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.
One person who has expressed concerns about the president issuing an 11th-hour preemptive pardon is Mr. Biden himself.
In December 2020, amid reports that then-President Trump was considering issuing preemptive pardons, including to members of his family, Biden told CNN that a preemptive pardon “is about[n] “For me, in terms of what kind of precedent it sets and how the rest of the world views us as a nation of law and justice.”
He added: “You will not see this type of approach to pardons in our administration.”
