Joe Biden Pardons Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney and Jan. 6 Committee With Hours Left in Office

With mere hours left in office, outgoing President Joe Biden on Monday issued a slate of unprecedented, preemptive pardons to more than a dozen politicians, military leaders, and bureaucrats whom Donald Trump has threatened to target.

The pardonees include Gen. Mark Milley, the former Joint Chiefs chairman who became a prominent Trump critic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and all nine members of the Jan. 6 committee, including Sen. Adam Schiff and former Rep. Liz Cheney. None of them committed any actual crimes, Biden emphasized in a statement. But the protective measure is meant to guard against future, unfounded prosecutions by Trump and his allies in the new administration, some of whom have threatened a campaign of retribution against his perceived enemies.

“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 … Even when individuals have done nothing wrong—and in fact have done the right thing—and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.”

The outgoing president has reportedly been weighing this move for weeks—since roughly the time he controversially extended similar preemptive protection to his son, Hunter Biden. Trump has repeatedly threatened to “go after” the Biden family once in office.

Biden’s last-minute pardons extended to the entire Jan. 6 House committee and the four police officers who testified before it. Several individuals have said they didn’t want preemptive pardons, fearing the move would look less like a safeguard against baseless prosecution and more like evidence of a crime that never occurred.

And in some cases, those anxieties proved correct. Right-wing commentators and politicians are already insisting the pardons prove some nefarious plot is afoot. “If there was ever any doubt as to who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden’s pardon of Fauci forever seals the deal,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul posted Monday on X. “As Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee I will not rest until the entire truth of the coverup is exposed,” he added. Rep. Eric Burlison, a Missouri Republican, echoed: “If Fauci did nothing wrong then why the reason for the pardon?”

Fauci, for his part, said in a Monday statement that he was “grateful” to Biden, adding that Trump’s “baseless threats” had created “immeasurable and intolerable distress for me and my family.” Milley and Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer who testified before the Jan. 6 committee, also thanked Biden. “Like all public servants, I was just doing my job and upholding my oath,” Dunn said in a statement.