Biden preemptively pardons family members, Trump foes

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons on Monday to former Covid pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley and close family members to shield them from “politically motivated prosecutions” under the Trump administration.

In an extraordinary move in his last hours in the White House, Biden gave similar pardons to members and staff of the US House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Donald Trump´s supporters.

Biden also commuted to home confinement the life sentence of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, 80, who has been imprisoned for nearly 50 years for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents.

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Biden said in a statement announcing the pardons of Fauci, Milley and the members of the January 6 committee. “But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” he said.

“These public servants have served our nation with honour and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.” Trump has repeatedly promised “retribution” against his political opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution.

Fauci, who led the country´s fight against the Covid pandemic during Trump´s first term, has become a hated figure for many on the right, including Trump ally Elon Musk, who has called for the scientist to be prosecuted.

Trump was enraged after Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told journalist Bob Woodward that the Republican was “fascist to the core” and a “dangerous person.” Milley also revealed he had secretly called his Chinese counterpart after the Capitol attack to reassure Beijing that the United States remained “stable” and had no intention to attack China.

“I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,” he said in a statement. Fauci also thanked Biden for the pardon, according to US media reports, but stressed “I have committed no crime.”

Just minutes before Trump was sworn in as president, Biden announced he was issuing pardons to his brother James Biden, James´s wife Sara Jones Biden, his sister Valerie Biden Owens, Valerie´s husband John Owens, and his brother Francis Biden.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump expressed disappointment on Monday with the last-minute pardons issued by his predecessor Joe Biden, who preemptively protected relatives and some members of his administration seen as foes of the incoming commander-in-chief.

“I was going to talk about the things that Joe did today, with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes,” Trump told supporters at the US Capitol shortly after his inauguration.