Biden’s Last Acts as President Are Pardons for Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley, and the January 6 Committee

President Biden’s pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Millley, and the members of Congress and staff who participated in the House January 6 committee amount to a final exercise by Mr. Biden of the president’s least-fettered power. The charters of clemency come just hours before President-elect Trump will take the oath and become America’s 47th president. Mr. Biden, in a statement accompanying the pardons, declared that “our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy. Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation.”Mr. Biden added that “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 pardons, though, appear to be an attempt to head off paths to prosecution under the new administration, which has flirted with the possibility of retribution.Dr. Fauci led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for almost 40 years, and served as Mr. Biden’s chief medical officer until the physician retired in 2022. He helped coordinate America’s response to the Covid pandemic, and the policies he advocated, including lockdowns and social distancing, have become flashpoints for criticism. Trump has accused Dr. Fauci and another medical adviser, Dr. Deborah Birx, of trying to “reinvent history to cover for their bad instincts and faulty recommendations, which I fortunately almost always overturned.” General Milley served under Trump as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest ranking military officer. Their relationship soured, though, with the journalist Bob Woodward reporting that Mr. Milley called the 47th president “fascist to the core” and “dangerous.” Mr. Milley also judged the riot at the Capitol on January 6 to have been an insurrection.Trump told “Meet the Press” last month that “everybody” who served on the January 6 committee “should go to jail.” That legislative body recommended that Trump be criminally charged for attempting to reverse the results of the 2020 election. Its work was in turn used by Special Counsel Jack Smith in his federal prosecution. While the lawmakers on the committee — like Congresswoman Liz Cheney — were already protected from prosecution by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, Mr. Biden’s pardon covers witnesses and other staff. The pardon singles out for protection the police officers who testified about their experience that day.This last batch of pardons comes after Mr. Biden commuted thousands of sentences — including more than three dozen death penalty cases — and issued to his son Hunter one of the most expansive pardons seen in decades.

Biden’s Last Acts as President Are Pardons for Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley, and the January 6 Committee

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