Biden preemptively pardons family members, Trump foes

US President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons on Monday, Jan. 20 to former COVID-19 pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley, and close family members to shield them from "politically motivated prosecutions" under the Trump administration.

In an extraordinary move in his last hours in the White House, Biden gave similar pardons to former Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney and other members of the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump's supporters.

Biden also commuted to home confinement the life sentence of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, 80, who has been imprisoned for nearly 50 years for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents.

"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 in a statement announcing the pardons of Fauci, Milley, and the members and staff of the Jan. 6 committee.

"But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing," he said. "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."

The Democrat added 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."

Trump has repeatedly promised "retribution" against his political opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution.

Speaking after his inauguration, he condemned Biden's pardons of the members of what he called the "unselect committee of political thugs," saying they were "guilty of very bad crimes."

"Why are we trying to help a guy like Milley?" he said. "Why are we helping Liz Cheney?"

Cheney, the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney and a fierce Trump critic, and Democrat Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the January 6 committee, thanked Biden for shielding them from "false prosecution."

"We have been pardoned today not for breaking the law but for upholding it," they said in a joint statement.

Fauci also welcomed the pardon but stressed "I have committed no crime."

Fauci, who led the country's fight against the Covid pandemic during Trump's first term, has become a hated figure for many on the right, including Trump ally Elon Musk, who has called for the scientist to be prosecuted.

'Unrelenting attacks and threats'

Trump was enraged after Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told journalist Bob Woodward that the Republican was "fascist to the core" and a "dangerous person."

Milley also revealed he had secretly called his Chinese counterpart after the Capitol attack to reassure Beijing that the United States remained "stable" and had no intention to attack China.

Trump subsequently wrote on his Truth Social network that "in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!" for Milley.

Milley thanked Biden for his executive action.

"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.

Just minutes before Trump was sworn in, Biden announced he was issuing pardons to his brother James Biden, James's wife Sara Jones Biden, his sister Valerie Biden Owens, Valerie's husband John Owens, and his brother Francis Biden.

"My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me—the worst kind of partisan politics," Biden said. "Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end."

Trump has regularly complained of being the victim of "lawfare" under the Biden administration after being prosecuted for trying to subvert the 2020 election and mishandling classified documents.

Monday's moves were the latest in a slew of pardons and clemencies Biden has granted in his final days in office, including commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people in one day—and the controversial pardon of his son Hunter.

Trump has described jailed supporters who took part in the January 6 attack on the Capitol as "political prisoners" and said he plans to pardon some of them.

Former president Richard Nixon received a preemptive pardon from his successor, Gerald Ford, after resigning in disgrace in 1974 because of the Watergate scandal. (AFP)