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Left: Army Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attends the meeting of the ‘Ukraine Defense Contact Group’ at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 (AP Photo/Michael Probst). Center: WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 30: Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies at a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on June 30, 2020 in Washington, DC (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images). Right: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) speaks at the opening of a hearing on the January 6th Investigation on Capitol Hill on July 12, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images).
As one of his final acts in office, President Joe Biden has granted pardons to several people who he says will risk prosecution and harassment under incoming President Donald Trump.
On Monday, just hours before presidential power was scheduled to shift back to Donald Trump, Biden made an official statement announcing pardons for General Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and lawmakers who investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, as well as their staff members.
“Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy,” the statement says. “Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties.”
Milley, Fauci, and the members and staff of the now-defunct Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol are among those public servants who “been threatened with criminal prosecutions.” The committee was made up mostly of Democrats, but two Republicans — Rep. Liz Cheney, of Wyoming, and Adam Kinzinger, of Illinois — were also members. Members of law enforcement who testified before the committee — specifically, those with the U.S. Capitol Police and the D.C. Metropolitan police — were also pardoned.
“Everybody on that committee, for what they did honestly, should go to jail,” Trump told NBC News in December. The committee had voted unanimously in 2022 to subpoena and refer Trump for prosecution.
Fauci, who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, has received numerous death threats since coming to national prominence during the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, and was the focus of a Republican-led committee investigating the pandemic. That committee announced in June 2024 that Fauci had been “held publicly accountable” for promoting the COVID-19 vaccine, making “misleading” claims about the origin of COVID-19, and showing “no remorse for the millions of lives affected by his divisive rhetoric.”
After retiring in 2023 from serving as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump, Milley reportedly said that Trump was “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country.” In response, Trump promptly lashed out online at Milley, suggesting he was a traitor and should be executed.
In his statement about the pardons Monday, Biden said that he continues to “believe in the rule of law” and is “optimistic” that the strength of the nation’s legal institutions “will ultimately prevail over politics.”
“But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” the statement continues. “Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. 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 pardons, Biden said, should not be misunderstood as an admission of bad behavior.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,” the statement said. “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”
In December, when Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted in 2024 of felony firearm offenses in Delaware as well as another three felony tax crimes in California, said that Hunter Biden had been “treated differently” from others who had engaged in the same actions for which he was convicted.
“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said at the time. Ahead of that pardon, Hunter Biden’s legal team had warned of Trump’s coming “vengeance” against those on his “enemies list.”
