The sweeping action—announced mere hours before Trump’s inauguration as the 47th U.S. president—appears designed to protect them from what Biden calls “baseless and politically motivated” investigations under the incoming administration.
Key pardons
- Gen. Mark Milley: Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who served during Trump’s first term and has labeled Trump a “fascist.”
- Dr. Anthony Fauci: Longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, criticized by Trump allies for his role in managing the Covid pandemic.
- Members of Congress: Those who served on the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack—particularly figures like former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, whom Trump openly vowed to pursue.
- Family pardons: Biden also extended clemency to his own relatives, citing “unrelenting attacks and threats” that he believes will continue once Trump takes office.
“These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” Biden said in a statement on Monday. Hours later, he expanded the pardons to include unnamed members of his family, citing ongoing partisan hostility: “I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”
Biden stressed that these pardons do not imply guilt. “Acceptance should not be misconstrued as an admission of wrongdoing,” he wrote. “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment.”
Taylor Budowich, Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel, sharply criticized the pardons: “They will go down as the greatest attack on America’s justice system in history. With the stroke of a pen, he unilaterally shielded a group of political cronies from the scales of justice. This is yet another dangerous and unreversible erosion of American norms,” Budowich wrote on X.
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Source: Polskie Radio 24, CNN