President Biden reportedly issued a series of preemptive pardons in the final hours of his administration on Monday to protect family members and other prominent individuals from a campaign of justice by his successor, Donald J. Trump.
In a remarkable attempt by a departing president to obstruct political prosecutions by a successor, Mr. Biden granted pardons to five family members, including his brothers James B. Biden and Francis W.
Biden, along with individuals pursued by Mr. Trump such as Gen. Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and former Representative Liz Cheney.
Mr. Biden pardoned his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, her husband, John T. Owens, and Sara Jones Biden, the spouse of James Biden, in addition to his brothers.
He granted clemency to all members of the bipartisan House committee that examined the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, along with their staff and the police officers who provided testimony throughout the investigation.
By granting pre-emptive pardons, Biden essentially transformed the president’s constitutional authority of clemency into a safeguard against what he asserted would be politically driven retribution.
No previous president has utilized executive clemency as extensively and transparently to impede a successor he perceives as likely to misuse power, nor has any president, including Trump, pardoned as many relatives.
The White House declared the family pardons with under 20 minutes remaining in Mr. Biden’s presidency, subsequent to his entry into the Capitol Rotunda to observe Mr. Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.
The pardons served as a significant conclusion to Biden’s fifty-year political tenure, highlighting the distrust and resentment he harbors against Mr. Trump, his predecessor and successor.
His conduct provided a striking demonstration of the profound shift in power in Washington when Mr. Trump assumed office, succeeding Biden.
At the commencement of the day, the departing president exercised his pardon ability to safeguard those who probed the January 6 assault on the Capitol.
By day’s end, the incoming president has stated he will grant pardons to numerous individuals involved in the assault.
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