Biden gives last-minute preemptive pardons to his family, frees FBI killer from prison

In his last moments in office, President Biden issued a flurry of preemptive pardons for younger brother James Biden and other family members as well as former chief medical adviser to the president, Anthony Fauci and others he feared his successor, President Trump, will target.

Mr. Biden issued the pardons as he entered the Capitol to attend Mr. Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, and they marked the last public acts of his presidency.

Mr. Biden said the pardons were justified in the face of political retribution by the new Trump administration, particularly in the case of the sweeping preemptive pardons of his family.

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families,” Mr. Biden said. “Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances.”

In his first comments after delivering his inaugural address, Mr. Trump voiced disapproval of the pardons, though remaining circumspect.

“I was going to talk about the things Joe did today with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the Un-select Committee of Political Thugs,” he said, referring to the members of the House Jan. 6 Committee that accused him of inciting the riot and attempting a coup.

Mr. Trump said first lady Melania Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance talked him out of discussing the pardons on Inauguration Day.

Later, when reporters asked about it, he said, “I think it was unfortunate that he did that.”

In addition to Mr. Fauci, the now-former president issued last-minute preemptive pardons to retired Gen. Mark A. Milley and members of the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 who targeted Mr. Trump and his former administration for prosecution related to the riot at the Capitol four years ago.

That includes former Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican who was a fierce critic of Mr. Trump and co-chaired the House Jan. 6 committee. She was voted out of office in 2022 for her anti-Trump stance.

Mr. Trump has vented at members of the House panel who investigated his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, saying they hid key evidence and came down hard on innocent people.

The Biden pardons cap a historic level of clemency by a departing president.

He pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was facing extensive federal tax evasion and gun charges and a long list of others convicted of drug crimes.  

In total, Mr. Biden commuted the sentences of more than 8,000 people — a record for any president. Many who received clemency were convicted of drug offenses or minor offenses. But Mr. Biden also commuted the sentences of 37 federal prisoners on death row, including child murderers.

Mr. Biden on Monday also commuted the two life sentences imposed on American Indian activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and escaping from federal prison.

Mr. Peltier, 80, will not be pardoned, Mr. Biden said.

“This commutation will enable Mr. Peltier to spend his remaining days in home confinement but will not pardon him for his underlying crimes,” the statement said.

Natalie Bara, president of the FBI Agents Association, said Peltier is a “cop killer” and Mr. Biden’s commutation is “a cruel betrayal to the families and colleagues of these fallen agents and is a slap in the face of law enforcement.”

In addition to his son, Mr. Biden’s family pardon list includes every sibling and two in-laws.

Pardons were extended to James Biden and his wife, Sara Jones Biden, the president’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens and her husband, John T. Owens. He also pardoned his youngest brother, Francis “Frank” W. Biden.

James Biden, 75, was under investigation in the GOP-led House for using his brother’s powerful position to secure lucrative business deals and providing funds to Mr. Biden, who was vice president at the time, in the form of loan repayments. He was never charged with a crime, but GOP lawmakers urged the incoming Justice Department to investigate the now ex-president’s brother for providing false information to Congress.

The pardons were greeted with bitter acrimony on Capitol Hill.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, accused his counterpart, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, of “hypocrisy” and “consistent dishonesty” for downplaying Mr. Biden’s business deals and accepting a pardon after serving on the Jan. 6 panel.

“Jamie Raskin once claimed that ‘the seeking of pardons is a powerful demonstration of the consciousness of guilt, or at least the consciousness that you may be in trouble,’” Mr. Comer said. “It’s clear that the chickens have come home to roost for Jamie Raskin.”

Mr. Biden had mulled the pardons for weeks, citing Mr. Trump’s rants against “enemies from within” and a potential target list.

Dr. Fauci, who led infectious diseases research at the National Institutes of Health, advised Mr. Trump in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and led vaccine research. He was also a constant media presence who pushed for social and business restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, making him the target of ire for Mr. Trump and his allies as restrictions took a toll on normal life.

While governors and local officials ordered the actual shutdowns, Mr. Trump’s allies accused Dr. Fauci of funding dangerous work at a lab in Wuhan, China, that might have resulted in a leak of the coronavirus, though probes are inconclusive.

“During his tenure as my chief medical adviser, he helped the country tackle a once-in-a-century pandemic. The United States is safer and healthier because of him,” Mr. Biden said.

Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, said Mr. Biden’s pardon of Dr. Fauci only underscored his belief that the doctor was responsible for the COVID-19 crisis.

The senator pledged to investigate the virus’ origins as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

“If there was ever any doubt as to who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden’s pardon of Fauci forever seals the deal,” Mr. Paul said. “Fauci’s pardon will only serve as an accelerant to pierce the veil of deception.”

Gen. Milley turned into a vocal critic of Mr. Trump at the end of the Republican’s first term, including his handling of 2020 protests over police actions and race and the events that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.