President Biden issued pardons to several close family members Monday in the final minutes of his presidency.
“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 wrote in a statement. “Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”
“That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden,” he continued. “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”
President Biden also issued pre-emptive pardons for General Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of the January 6th congressional committee. The move, announced this morning, aims to protect them from any potential retaliation by President-elect Trump when he returns to power. Biden said they “do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.”
