Washington
CNN
—
President Joe Biden on Monday granted a preemptive pardon to General Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of Congress who served on the commission investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, using extraordinary executive prerogative as a shield against the vengeance of his new successor, Donald Trump.
The pardons, which come in the final hours of Biden’s presidency, constitute a stunning move of presidential power without precedent in recent presidential history. They serve to protect several vocal critics of the new president, including former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, against whom Trump has sworn revenge.
“These are exceptional circumstances and there is nothing in good conscience I can do,” Biden wrote in a statement released hours before welcoming Trump to the White House for tea before attending his performance of oath. “Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. »
Biden had considered issuing pardons in the final days of his presidency, fearing that Trump would take office and immediately seek to pursue his adversaries. In his statement, he explained his reasons, saying that “alarmingly, civil servants were subjected to constant threats and intimidation for faithfully carrying out their duties.”
The recipients of Biden’s pardons have all faced intense criticism from Trump and his allies.
Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for decades, including during the Covid outbreak during Trump’s first presidency, and Milley served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Trump’s first term and warned that Trump was a fascist.
Biden, in his statement, noted that pardons do not denote guilt.
“The granting of these pardons should not be misconstrued as an acknowledgment that an individual has committed any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for an offense . Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to these public servants for their tireless commitment to our country,” he wrote.
As he weighed preemptive pardons in recent days, the president made clear in conversations with aides that he did not believe those who received them were guilty of any crime — and expressed fear that their pardon could imply guilt, according to people familiar with the matter. conversations.
Ultimately, Biden put those concerns aside, reasoning that offering protection would outweigh the potential implications of culpability.
In doing so, he took an unprecedented step in presidential history. Preventive pardons of this magnitude have never been granted before. When President Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor, Richard Nixon, the 37th president faced a real threat of prosecution. None of the people on Biden’s list appeared to be at risk of imminent legal action, but Biden believed the threat was real enough that protection was necessary.
Several members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the Capitol attack were stunned to learn of the decision, according to multiple sources. They were not told what was happening and one person said they still didn’t know what the pardon was for, the sources said.
In a statement to CNN, Milley said he and his family were “deeply grateful” for Biden’s action.
“After forty-three years of faithful uniformed service to our nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend my remaining time that the Lord grants me fighting those who might unjustly seek revenge for perceived slights ” Milley said. “I do not want to subject my family, friends and those with whom I have served to the resulting distractions, expenses and anxiety. »
Former Capitol Hill police officer Harry Dunn expressed his thanks to Biden for the decision.
“I am eternally grateful to President Joe Biden, not only for this preemptive pardon, but also for his leadership and service to this nation, particularly over the past four years. I wish this grace were not necessary, but unfortunately the political climate we currently find ourselves in has made this necessity a reality. Like all other public servants, I was simply doing my job and keeping my oath, and I always will.
Fauci added that he was “very grateful” for the preemptive pardon, although he did not ask for it.
“As (Biden) said, we did nothing wrong, but the baseless accusations and threats are real to me and my family,” Fauci said.
Some of those who received last-minute pardons were not notified, a person close to them told CNN.
Earlier this month, the president told reporters that one factor in his decision was whether Trump had telegraphed any of his intentions regarding possible prosecution of his political opponents in the days preceding his inauguration.
“It depends on the language and the expectations that Trump has expressed over the last few days about what he’s going to do,” the president said when asked what pardons and commutations he was considering.
“The idea that he punishes people who don’t adhere to what he thinks is a policy related to his well-being is outrageous,” Biden said. “But some people are still being considered, but no decisions have been made.”
In an interview with USA Today, Biden said he told Trump during their meeting in the Oval Office shortly after the president-elect’s victory in November that “he was not needed and he was counterintuitive that his interest would go back and try to settle scores.”
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger and Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff have said they don’t want preemptive pardons.
Jesse Binnall, one of Trump’s top private attorneys working on the Jan. 6-related lawsuits, highlighted on social media one of the main reasons the legal community was skeptical of Biden’s preemptive pardons before Monday: that makes it easier to obtain a testimony.
“Pardons are actually great news. No person who has just been pardoned will be able to refuse to testify in any civil, criminal, or parliamentary proceeding based on the 5th Amendment,” Binnall wrote.
Nor will pardons protect those who received them from a Congressional investigation or other types of investigation, such as a tax investigation, should such situations arise. The pardons would only protect them from federal criminal charges.
CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, Manu Raju, Sarah Ferris, Haley Talbot, Jamie Gangel, Dana Bash, Kaitlan Collins and Pamela Brown contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional reporting and reaction.