Biden Issues Last-Minute Pardons to Save People From Trump
At almost the last minute, President Biden issued surprising preemptive pardons for some of Donald Trump’s enemies.
On Monday morning, Biden issued pardons to Anthony Fauci, the infectious diseases expert who took on the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as Mark Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also pardoned the members and staff of the House January 6 committee, which was led by Democrat Bennie Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney, as well as Washington Metro Police and U.S. Capitol Police officers who testified before the committee.
The pardon recipients have all been attacked by Trump and his supporters, and many on the right have called for them to be criminally charged. Milley has reportedly told former colleagues that he fears being court-martialled by Trump out of revenge for his actions during Trump’s first term, where he checked some of the then-president’s worst impulses.
Fauci’s time advising the White House during the Covid-19 pandemic led to frequent clashes with Trump over how to manage public health, with the two parting ways on acrimonious terms. The January 6 pardons stem from various threats they’ve received from Trump and his supporters, as well as from Trump’s appointees, such as Kash Patel, who have vowed to take revenge on the president-elect’s behalf.
Biden shocked many of his supporters last month when he pardoned his son Hunter from all present and future crimes out of fear that the coming Trump administration would single him out. Monday’s pardons seem to be protecting some of the right’s favorite bogeymen from Trump’s vengeance, which could come soon after he is sworn in later in the day.