US 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, US, January 10, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
President Joe Biden Monday he forgave him Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milleymembers of Congress who investigated the January 6 Capitol riot and others he said are at risk of being “baseless” targeted for political reasons.
The mass of premeditated pardons came hours before the President was elected Donald Trump – who has called some of his political enemies put in jail – taking office.
“These public servants have brought honor and distinction to our country and do not deserve to be the targets of unwarranted and politically motivated accusations,” Biden said in a press release.
“I believe in the rule of law, and I am hopeful that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are special circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do anything to do,” he said.
The outgoing Democratic president also said he was pardoning staff members who were on the House select committee on January 6 and the police officers who testified before it.
Biden's statement stressed that the pardons “should not be mistaken as an admission that anyone was involved in any crime, and should not be taken to be misinterpreted as an admission of guilt for any crime.” “
(COMBO) This composite file photo created on Dec. 5, 2024 shows (L-R) US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley on April 21, 2023 and Dr. Anthony Fauci on Dec. 9, 2022.
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Fauci led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and was at the forefront of the US response to the coronavirus pandemic, which began under Trump in early 2020. Milley chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff beginning in 2019, also under Trump.
Both figures eventually became pariahs for Trump and his Republican supporters.
Trump and Fauci fell out even before the November 2020 election, as the president at the time was pushing back against the public health restrictions that Fauci and other experts were advocating.
Trump in 2023 accused Milley betrayal after he reportedly called Chinese officials in the final days of the Trump administration to reassure them of US political and military stability. Milley has defend that call.
“My family and I are extremely grateful for what the President has done today,” Milley said in a statement later Monday morning.
“After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, defending and defending the Constitution, I do not want the remaining time that the Lord gives me to spend fighting those who might seek revenge for details,” he said.
