President Joe Biden on Monday pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, in an extraordinary use of the powers of the presidency in his final hours to guard against potential 91裸聊视频渞evenge91裸聊视频� by .
The decision by Biden comes after Donald Trump warned of filled with those who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his attempt and his role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. and who have pledged to punish those involved in efforts to investigate him.
91裸聊视频淭he 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,91裸聊视频� Biden said in a statement. 91裸聊视频淥ur nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.91裸聊视频�
The pardons, announced with just hours left in Biden91裸聊视频檚 presidency, have been the subject of heated debate for months at the highest levels of the White House. It91裸聊视频檚 customary for a president to grant clemency at the end of his term, but those acts of mercy are usually offered to Americans who have been convicted of crimes.
Trump told NBC the pardons were disgraceful.
Biden, a Democrat, has used the power in the broadest and most untested way possible: to pardon those who have not even been investigated. His decision lays the groundwork for an even more expansive use of pardons by Trump, a Republican, and future presidents.
While the Supreme Court last year ruled that presidents enjoy for what could be considered official acts, the president91裸聊视频檚 aides and allies enjoy no such shield. There is concern that future presidents could use the promise of a blanket pardon to encourage allies to take actions they might otherwise resist for fear of running afoul of the law.
It91裸聊视频檚 unclear whether those pardoned by Biden would need to apply for the clemency or accept the president91裸聊视频檚 offer. Acceptance could be seen as a tacit admission of guilt or wrongdoing, validating years of attacks by Trump and his supporters, even though those who have been pardoned have not been formally accused of any crimes.
91裸聊视频淭hese are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,91裸聊视频� Biden said, adding that 91裸聊视频淓ven when individuals have done nothing wrong 91裸聊视频� and in fact have done the right thing 91裸聊视频� and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.91裸聊视频�
Fauci was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 40 years, including during Trump91裸聊视频檚 term in office, and later served as Biden91裸聊视频檚 chief medical adviser until his retirement in 2022. He helped coordinate the nation91裸聊视频檚 response to the COVID-19 pandemic and raised Trump91裸聊视频檚 ire when he resisted Trump91裸聊视频檚 untested public health notions. Fauci has since become a target of intense hatred and vitriol from people on the right, who blame him for mask mandates and other policies they believe infringed on their rights, even as hundreds of thousands of people were dying.
91裸聊视频淒espite the accomplishments that my colleagues and I achieved over my long career of public service, I have been the subject of politically-motivated threats of investigation and prosecution,91裸聊视频� Fauci said in a statement. 91裸聊视频淭here is absolutely no basis for these threats. Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime.91裸聊视频�
Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called Trump a fascist and has detailed Trump91裸聊视频檚 conduct around the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. He said he was grateful to Biden for a pardon.
91裸聊视频淚 do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,91裸聊视频� he said in a statement. 91裸聊视频淚 do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety.91裸聊视频�
Biden also extended pardons to members and staff of the Jan. 6 committee that investigated the attack, as well as the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the House committee about their experiences that day, overrun by an angry, violent mob of Trump supporters.
The committee spent 18 months investigating Trump and the insurrection. It was led by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican who later pledged to vote for Democrat Kamala Harris and campaigned with her against Trump. The committee91裸聊视频檚 final report found that Trump criminally engaged in a 91裸聊视频渕ulti-part conspiracy91裸聊视频� to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol.
91裸聊视频淩ather than accept accountability,91裸聊视频� Biden said, 91裸聊视频渢hose who perpetrated the January 6th attack have taken every opportunity to undermine and intimidate those who participated in the Select Committee in an attempt to rewrite history, erase the stain of January 6th for partisan gain, and seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions.91裸聊视频�
Biden91裸聊视频檚 statement did not list the dozens of members and staff by name. Some did not know they were to receive pardons until it happened, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
The extent of the legal protection offered by the pardons may not fully shield the lawmakers or their staff from other types of inquiries, particularly from Congress. Republicans on Capitol Hill would still likely have wide leverage to probe the committee91裸聊视频檚 actions, as the House GOP did in the last session of Congress, seeking testimony and other materials from those involved.
Biden, an institutionalist, has promised a smooth transition to the next administration, and saying that the nation will be OK, . He has to the presidency again would be a threat to democracy. His decision to break with political norms was brought on by those concerns.
for most individual pardons and commutations issued. He also pardoned his son Hunter.
He is not the first to consider such preemptive pardons. Trump aides considered them for Trump and his supporters involved in his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that culminated in the violent riot at the Capitol. But Trump91裸聊视频檚 pardons never materialized before he left office four years ago.
President Gerald Ford granted a 91裸聊视频渇ull, free, and absolute pardon91裸聊视频� in 1974 to his predecessor, Richard Nixon, over the Watergate scandal.
Trump, who takes office at noon, has promised to grant swift clemency to many of those involved in the violent and bloody Jan. 6, 2021, attack, which injured roughly 140 law enforcement officers. 91裸聊视频淓verybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision,91裸聊视频� he said at a Sunday rally.
