U.S. President Joe Biden reacts as he speaks from the Roosevelt Room about the jobs report and the state of the economy at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 10, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
President Joe Biden on Monday issued pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, members of Congress who investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and others who he said are under threat of being “baselessly” targeted for political purposes.
The spate of preemptive pardons came hours before President-elect Donald Trump — who has called for some of his political foes to be jailed — takes office.
“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 press release.
“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” he said.
Biden’s statement stressed that the 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.”
Biden also said he is pardoning staff who served on the House Jan. 6 select committee and the police officers who testified before it.
Fauci led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and was the face of the U.S. response to the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Milley served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff starting in 2019, under Trump.
“My family and I are deeply grateful for the President’s action today,” Milley said in a statement later Monday morning.
“After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, 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.
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