Fauci claims innocence despite pardon, but acceptance raises questions
Joe Biden, just hours before his presidency ends, announced presidential pardons for a long list of those whose antics contributed to the Democrats’ lawfare against President Trump.
Included in the bunch was Anthony Fauci, the former federal health official who declared, during the COVID-19 China virus pandemic, that he WAS the “science.”
And he promptly expressed his appreciation for the pardon but proclaimed his innocence.
Dr. Anthony Fauci tells me he appreciates the pardon, but he committed no crime:
“I really truly appreciate the action President Biden has taken today on my behalf. Let me be perfectly clear, Jon, I have committed no crime, you know that, and there are no possible grounds for…
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) January 20, 2025
“I really truly appreciate the action President Biden has taken today on my behalf. Let me be perfectly clear, Jon, I have committed no crime, you know that, and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me,” he claimed.
Fauci said he is grateful because the threats and possibility of a politically motivated prosecution “creates immeasurable and intolerable distress on me and my family.”
And while the technicalities all undoubtedly were followed in the pardons, the public perception is going to end up being that there probably was something there.
In fact, the fact-check system for online comments, which is the response from the community, noted that a historic federal court ruling, from the Supreme Court, found that accepting a pardon carries “the imputation of guilt and acceptances of a confession of it.”
If you accept the pardon you admit you committed a crime. pic.twitter.com/x0BZBdC1s8
— Cheesed Hammer (@CheesedHammer) January 20, 2025
That was why several of the prison inmates named among the earlier thousands of Biden pardons to criminals, murderers and drug dealers said they did not want the pardons: Because they would influence their pending appeals.
Then he should refuse it. In the 1915 Supreme Court case Burdick v. United States, the Court ruled that a pardon carries an “imputation of guilt”. The Court also stated that accepting a pardon was “an admission of guilt”.
— Frasier (@timfrasier) January 20, 2025
The community response explained that the Supreme Court technically ruled that accepting a pardon does not have a legal impact on guilt or no guilt, and does not bind the recipient to admitting guilt in other circumstances.
“While legally it does not require an admission of guilt, public perception might differ,” those community responses explained. “Some might interpret the acceptance of a pardon as an acknowledgment of wrongdoing, but this is more a matter of public opinion than legal fact.”
Biden signed pardons for Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley and the entire J6 Select Committee.
The Gateway Pundit explained, “Fauci’s policies destroyed millions of lives, bankrupted thousands of businesses, and unnecessarily killed millions around the world. Liz Cheney, who is currently under investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives, knowingly lied about January 6 and President Trump’s actions that day.”
And, it explained, “General Milley was one of the architects of the worst American foreign policy blunder in history. His response to his own ineptness was to focus on the woke military agenda. Milley also was making promises with China to warn them about any possible U.S. attack.”
The report called Biden’s latest pardons, “a final act of defiance against the American people.”
Biden, whose party launched multiple lawfare attacks against Trump, including wild claims in Georgia that he participated in an organized crime campaign and defrauded companies whose officials said they liked doing business with Trump and wanted to do more, in his proclamation admitted that those he was pardoning could have been “investigated or prosecuted” and they could ultimately have been “exonerated.”
But he said simply being investigated could do damage to their reputations.
He insisted, “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.”
The judgment, however, came swiftly. At Twitchy was the comment: “As Twitchy readers know, Joe Biden signed some last-minute pardons of TOTALLY INNOCENT people like Liz Cheney and Anthony Fauci while he still had the ability to do so. Let us rephrase that. Whoever has been manipulating and using Biden for the past four years had him sign some last-minute pardons of TOTALLY INNOCENT people …”
It continued, “Innocent people don’t need or even ‘appreciate’ pardons, Tony.”
The report pointed out that even former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of the harshest critics of Trump, was aligned with those who suggest that something triggered the pardon.
“The only reason to ask for a pardon is because you think you’ve committed a crime.”pic.twitter.com/2svAmUC8z1
— E (@Simply4Truth_) January 20, 2025