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President Biden’s last minute preventive pardons Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s biggest critics, including Gen. Mark Milley, former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci, were criticized on social media Monday, hours before he left the White House.
“For Joe Biden to use his last day in office to pardon Liz Cheney, among others, is the perfect expression of American political realignment and the rotten soul of the Democratic Party,” wrote journalist Glenn Greenwald.
Biden included anyone who served on the Jan. 6 House committee on the preemptive pardon list. Milley accepted the pardon, while Fauci thanked the president but maintained that he did nothing wrong.
NBC’s Kristen Welker reported that Trump texted her his reaction, which read: “It’s embarrassing. Many are guilty of BIG CRIMES!”
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said, “If there was ever any question about who is responsible for the COVID pandemic, Biden’s pardon of Fauci seals the deal for good.”
Milley thanked Biden in a statement on Monday.
“My family and I are deeply grateful for the president’s action today,” he wrote. “After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend the remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who might unjustly seek retaliation for what I perceive as slights.”
Biden on Monday granted several preemptive pardons to prominent critics of Donald Trump. (Left to right: (Photo by: William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images), (Photo by Mandel Ngan – Pool/Getty Images), (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images), (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images ))
“I don’t want my family, my friends and those I served with to go through the resulting distraction, expense and anxiety,” he added.
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“The swamp protects its own,” Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., wrote on social media.
Biden said in a statement that “the granting of these pardons should not be confused with an acknowledgment that an individual has committed any crime, nor should the acceptance be misinterpreted as an admission of guilt for any crime.”
Former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill lamented the “sad” pardons during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday, saying they set a precedent for the incoming president.
Biden was criticized for forgiving his sonHunter Biden, in early December, after repeatedly telling Americans that he believed in the rule of law and would accept the outcome of his son’s trial.
“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the decision-making of the Department of Justice, and I kept my word even as I watched my son be selectively and unfairly prosecuted,” the president said in a December statement. about his son’s forgiveness.
“Biden pardoned Fauci. He says it’s not an admission of guilt. But if Fauci were innocent, no pardon would be needed. Evidence suggests Fauci helped create the Covid pandemic and then covered it up. The investigation must move forward. All Covid & Fauci Files must be published,” Michael Shellenberger, CBR chair of Politics, Censorship and Freedom of Expression at the University of Austin, wrote on social media.
“No one is above the law except people who get general, preventive pardons,” wrote commentator Mary Kathrine Ham. “Ignominy until the end.”
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Notably, special counsel Jack Smith, former FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland are not included in the pardon, despite speculation that they could face backlash from the incoming administration.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
