Washington In an effort to safeguard those President-elect Donald Trump had threatened, President Joe Biden issued a number of pardons Monday morning with only hours left in office.
Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, members and staff of the committee that looked into the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and police officers from the Capitol and D.C. metropolitan areas who testified before the committee were all pardoned by Biden.
The panel’s members included former House members Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.; current Representatives Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.; and former House member Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
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Aquilino Gonell, Daniel Hodges, Michael Fanone, and Harry Dunn were among the police officers who provided testimony to the committee.
Biden said in a statement that he cannot act in good faith because some of the individuals he preemptively pardoned faced criminal charges.
He noted that these public officials have served our country with distinction and honor, and they shouldn’t be the focus of politically motivated and baseless prosecutions.
According to the president, Milley led our Armed Forces through challenging international security threats, bolstered our current relationships, and forged new ones over his more than 40 years of service. He said Fauci helped the nation deal with a once-in-a-century pandemic, referring to COVID, after saving lives directing responses to HIV/AIDS, the Ebola, and Zika viruses.
Biden supported the Jan. 6 committee members and criticized those who have intimidated and assaulted them, without mentioning Trump by name. Members of the Jan. 6 should be looked into and imprisoned, according to the president-elect.
In an effort to rewrite history, remove the stain of January 6th for partisan advantage, and exact revenge—including by threatening criminal prosecutions—those responsible for the January 6th attack have not accepted responsibility and have instead used every chance to discredit and threaten those who took part in the Select Committee, Biden wrote.
Biden claimed that the lives, safety, and financial stability of the targeted people and their families are severely impacted by irrational and politically driven inquiries.
“The mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances, even when individuals have done nothing wrong and have done the right thing and will ultimately be exonerated,” he said.
The President stated that the pardons should not be construed as a recognition of the misconduct of these individuals.
Milley stated in a statement that he and his family are “deeply grateful for the President’s action today.”
“After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,” he stated. “I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety.”
In a statement, Fauci expressed his gratitude for Biden’s intervention, saying that he was one of seven presidents from both parties that he had counseled. He claimed to have been “the subject of politically motivated threats of investigation and prosecution.”
“There is absolutely no basis for these threats,” he stated. “I have not committed any crimes, and there is no basis for any accusations against me, nor is there any fear of a criminal inquiry or prosecution. However, the reality is that my family and I experience unimaginable and unbearable suffering just by voicing these unfounded threats and the possibility that they would be carried out.”
Biden’s preemptive pardon of Fauci, with whom he has frequently disagreed over the pandemic response, was condemned by Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
“If there was ever any doubt as to who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden s pardon of Fauci forever seals the deal,” Paul said in an article on X. Saying, “I will not rest until the full truth of the coverup is exposed,” he implied that he would look into Fauci. Fauci’s pardon will simply act as a catalyst to break through the façade of dishonesty.