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The move comes hours before US President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office
US President Joe Biden has issued preemptive pardons for former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as members of Congress who investigated the January 6 Capitol riot.
In a statement on Monday cited by multiple media outlets, Biden expressed concern about US officials being threatened with what he described as unjust criminal prosecutions.
He singled out Milley, Fauci, and members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol, stressing that “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.”
Milley, who has called Trump a ‘fascist,’ has had a brilliant military career, serving in some of the world’s most dangerous places “to protect and defend democracy,” Biden said. He also touted Fauci’s professional record as former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The United States is safer and healthier because of him,” the president said.
As for the members of Congress that investigated the January 6 attack, Biden said they fulfilled their mission by holding accountable “a mob of insurrectionists [that] attacked the Capitol in an attempt to overturn a fair and free election by force and violence.” The attack was carried out by supporters of then-President Donald Trump who attempted to disrupt the certification of Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
“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.
While Biden touted Milley’s military career, Trump has accused him of treason for allegedly telling Chinese officials in the waning days of his administration that the US would not attack China, though should an attack be planned, he would inform his Chinese counterpart in advance. “This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH,” he said in September 2023.
Trump is also a longtime critic of Fauci, calling him a “disaster” for his handling of the pandemic. Critics have accused him of downplaying the potential side effects of the Covid vaccines and promoting overly strict lockdowns that hurt the economy.
The incoming US president has also been dismissive of the investigation into his alleged role in the events leading to and during the Capitol riot, calling it a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
He has fiercely criticized former US Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both members of the January 6 committee, calling them “two horrible RINOs [Republicans in name only] who put themselves ahead of our Country.” Trump has also accused Cheney of witness tampering, which he claimed helped shape key testimony in the Capitol riot investigation.
Biden issued the pardons hours before Trump is set to be sworn into office. The incoming president has pledged to issue pardons of his own on his first day which would give clemency to some of convicted January 6 rioters.
