Biden Issues Last Minute Pardons
Biden issued individual preemptive pardons to family members including James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens and Francis W. Biden (Image courtesy of the White House via the United States Department of Justice).
On the morning of the 2025 Inauguration, President Biden granted members of the Jan 6 committee pardons to shield them from the incoming wrath of President-elect Donald Trump.
Article by Samara Kangethe, Junior White House Producer
WASHINGTON - In the final hours of his presidency, President Biden pardoned members of the Bipartisan Task Force that investigated the Jan 6, 2021 Capitol attack. President Biden offered these final pardons to protect these citizens from the wrath that could result from a vengeful Donald Trump. These pardons provide safeguards to those in the line of politically driven prosecution rather than a suggestion of confirmed criminal action. It is typical for a president to grant clemency, however, the timing of these pardons and the lack of convicted crimes make this an unusual case.
These pardons were issued in protective response to a list of people who have politically crossed Donald Trump since his election loss in 2020. Recipients of this pardon include the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the Joint Chief of Staff General Mark Milley. President-elect Donald Trump has directly targeted both Fauci and Milley and vowed his vengeance upon taking office.
Fauci and Trump have had their difficulties since the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci, as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, believed in the science at the time which suggested social distancing, investigating the origin of the disease, and safety precautions. Trump advocated for precautions that were not supported by science or that held any scientific basis.
Neither president is innocent when it comes to promoting personal agendas. Biden previously pardoned his son Hunter Biden for crimes committed over 11 years. Due to receiving attacks and threats, Biden issued individual preemptive pardons to family members including James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens and Francis W. Biden.
Other recipients of the final pardon include D-Mississippi Rep Bennie Thompson, R-Wyoming Rep Liz Cheney, D-California Zoe Lofgren and Pete Aguilar, D-Maryland Jamie Raskin, and former D-Florida Rep Stephanie Murphy and D-Virginia Elaine Luria. The staff of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department and the US Capitol Police Department have also been pardoned. The US Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn testified against the President-elect during the Jan 6 investigations. In his testimony, Dunn expressed his horrific experience working that day as well as the direct messages he received which indicated Trump had called this order.
The pardons issued this morning extend to allegations of federal crimes. The pardon has been granted to a group of people rather than individuals which leaves it unclear who will specifically be accepting this pardon unless publicly acknowledged. R-Illinois Rep Adam Kissinger declined to demonstrate his innocence.