After some on the right suggested that the Biden family should be prosecuted, President Joe Biden announced a series of broad preemptive pardons for his family members, including his sister and two brothers, just minutes before he left office.
Biden made the announcement when he was at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics,” Biden stated in a statement. “Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”
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“I support the rule of law and have faith that our judicial system’s power will finally triumph over politics. However, the lives, safety, and financial stability of the targeted individuals and their families are severely damaged by irrational and politically driven inquiries. The act of being looked into or charged can cause irreversible harm to a person’s reputation and financial situation, even if they have done nothing wrong and will be found not guilty,” he added.
“That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden,” Biden said in a press release. “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”