President Biden has announced a series of pre-emptive pardons to safeguard individuals connected to the Jan. 6 committee and its witnesses.
Biden pardoned former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley; Dr. Anthony Fauci; members and staffers of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol; and Capitol and Washington police officers who testified before the committee.
It is set to pre-emptively protect people President-elect Donald Trump had threatened, reflecting his commitment to protecting those who have testified or participated in the investigation surrounding the events of January 6, 2021.
The pardons extend to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, known for his leadership during a tumultuous political period.
This decision underscores the administration’s intention to shield these individuals from potential legal repercussions as partisan tensions continue to simmer in the wake of the Capitol riot.
The panel’s members were Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who was then a House member; former Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.; and current Reps. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.
The police officers who testified before the committee included Harry Dunn, Aquilino Gonell, Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges.
Just minutes before he left office, Biden also pre-emptively pardoned more members of his own family, including his two brothers and his sister, saying they had been subject to attacks “motivated solely by a desire to hurt me.” Biden was widely criticized last month for pardoning his son Hunter Biden, who was set to be sentenced on federal gun and tax evasion charges — something the former president had repeatedly said he would not do.
Trump reacted to the initial pardons of the Jan. 6 committee members and others in a text message to NBC News on Monday, saying, “It is disgraceful,” and claiming without evidence, “Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!”
