Biden pardons Fauci, Milley, Jan. 6 committee ahead of Trump inauguration
President Biden on Monday morning, just hours before President-elect Trump’s inauguration, announced pardons for Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and other members of the House panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Biden said he was doing so to protect the public servants, who have all faced attacks from the man about to replace Biden in the White House. The official pardons, described as “full and unconditional,” are dated Sunday.
“These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden issued pardons for Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) who led the nation’s COVID-19 pandemic response, and Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Fauci, the face of the nation’s pandemic response, was criticized by Trump and his allies for efforts to refute Trump’s unsubstantiated claims about the virus and urging Americans to be vaccinated.
His pardon covers any offenses from Jan. 1, 2014, to Sunday that are related to his service as NIAID director, a member of the White House’s COVID-19 task force or response team or as chief medical advisor to the president.
Milley is a vocal critic of Trump and has called him a fascist. Trump has suggested the retired general should be “court-martialed” after reporting that Milley suggested the military would not go along with any purported coup planned by Trump to stay in power.
His pardon covers any offenses under federal or military law from Jan. 1, 2014, to Sunday that are related to his service as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.
The House Jan. 6 committee, which ended its work in December 2022, also has been a frequent target of Trump’s ire.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) chaired the committee, and Cheney served as second-in-command as vice chair. Other members included then-Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Elaine Luria (D-Va.) and Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), current Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and now-Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
The president also pardoned U.S. Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the committee.
Those pardons cover any offenses tied to the “activities or subject matter” of the committee and are not restricted to a specific time period.
Biden in recent weeks indicated he would consider granting pardons to individuals who might be targeted by the incoming administration. He said in his statement Monday morning that the pardons do not indicate the individuals “engaged in any wrongdoing.”
Biden said in his statement that the committee fulfilled its mission to discover the truth about the Capitol attack “with a commitment to discovering the truth.” But Trump in December suggested that the members of the House Jan. 6 committee “should go to jail.”
It’s unclear whether all members will accept the pardons Biden has offered them. Thompson indicated he would accept a pardon from the White House for his leadership role on the committee, but other members have said in recent weeks that they do not believe they need them.
Several police officers who testified to the committee were also preemptively pardoned. The officers who testified were former U.S. Capitol Police officers Harry Dunn, Aquilino Gonell and Caroline Edwards, and former D.C. Metropolitan police officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges.
During a press call earlier this month, Fanone and Gonell indicated they had not discussed pardons with Biden’s White House and felt they did not need them.
It’s typical for presidents to grant clemency at the end of their term, but Biden has stretched the limits of the presidential pardon power by offering pardons to individuals who have so far faced no investigation.
“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. “But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing.”
Biden’s Justice Department wrote in recent court filings for Jan. 6 defendants — many of whom are expecting imminent pardons from Trump — that accepting a pardon comes with an implicit admission of guilt or wrongdoing, despite Biden’s insistence that these do not.
Pardon recipients respond
Several of the pardon recipients have so far responded to Biden’s clemency with gratitude.
Fauci said in a statement that he has been the subject of “politically motivated threats” of prosecution but has “committed no crime.” Still, the threats “create immeasurable and intolerable distress for me and my family,” he said, thanking Biden for the pardon.
He told The Hill that the White House approached him about the pardon, and he did not ask for one, though he intends to accept it.
Johnson and Cheney, the former chairs of the Jan. 6 committee, said they were pardoned “not for breaking the law but for upholding it.”
“These are indeed ‘extraordinary circumstances’ when public servants are pardoned to prevent false prosecution by the government for having worked faithfully as Members of Congress to expose the facts of a months-long criminal effort to override the will of the voters after the 2020 elections, including by inciting a violent insurrection to thwart the peaceful transfer of power,” they said in a statement posted to the social media platform X.
Schiff, however, said in a statement that the pardons for committee members are “unnecessary” and “unwise” due to the precedent it sets, though he understands Biden’s decision because of Trump’s “persistent and baseless threats.”
Milley said he and his family are “deeply grateful” for Biden’s pardon and suggested the action will spare them “distraction, expense and anxiety.” He said he doesn’t want to spend “whatever remaining time the Lord grants” him fighting back against any retribution efforts.
And Dunn, the former Capitol Police officer, said he is “eternally grateful” to Biden for the pardon and his leadership as president.
“I wish this pardon weren’t necessary, but unfortunately, the political climate we are in now has made the need for one somewhat of a reality,” Dunn said.
Updated at 4:31 p.m. EST
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