Well, he finally did it. On his last day in office, Joe Biden set a dangerous precedent by pardoning Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the partisan January 6 committee, citing the need to protect them from potential retribution from the incoming Trump administration. According to Biden, these pardons are not admissions of guilt but rather acknowledgments of public service and an effort to protect these individuals from reputational and financial harm caused by investigations or prosecutions.
Biden has already set records by commuting nearly 2,500 sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and reducing the sentences of most federal death row inmates, including child rapists and murderers. He also gave a blanket pardon for his son Hunter in another controversial pardon he insisted for months that he wouldn’t do.
But this final act in office has taken presidential clemency into uncharted territory.
While Biden’s defenders might frame these actions as a necessary protective measure over concerns that Trump was going to weaponize the Justice Department against his enemies, the move actually reeks of irony. After all, it was Biden’s administration that weaponized the Justice Department and aggressively investigated and prosecuted Trump and his allies after Trump left office.
Trump was the target of multiple bogus investigations, and Biden’s Justice Department also targeted Trump allies like Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, and Rudy Giuliani. Now, with his preemptive pardons, Biden is shielding his own political allies from facing potential accountability — a stark double standard that underscores the hyper-partisan nature of his presidency.
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Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been a vocal critic of Trump and has expressed unfounded concerns about potential retribution. Fauci, the architect of the COVID-19 pandemic response, received a pardon despite never being formally accused of a crime. However, his pandemic policies and his role in covering up the lab leak theory and funding illegal gain-of-function research have come under scrutiny.
Even more troubling, members of the Jan. 6 committee — including Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Bennie Thomspon, and Adam Schiff — received pardons, shielding them in the wake of allegations of manipulating evidence, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering during their politically charged investigation.
But none have been formally charged with a crime, making these pardons unprecedented. By issuing pardons to individuals who have not been formally accused, charged, or investigated, Biden has shattered longstanding norms of presidential clemency. He justified these actions by citing “exceptional circumstances,” but this sets a perilous precedent.
What stops future presidents from using the same rationale to protect their allies, guilty or not, from any potential accountability? Biden’s actions effectively open the door for partisan abuse of clemency powers, further eroding trust in our institutions.
Moreover, Biden’s decision clashes with his repeated promises to ensure a smooth and respectful transition of power. Instead of fostering unity, these pardons have deepened the divisions in an already fractured political landscape.
The presidential pardon power was never intended to be used as a tool for granting preemptive pardons to political allies or to shield individuals from accountability before they even face trial. The Founding Fathers designed the pardon power to offer mercy in specific, individual cases — usually after conviction and often with an eye toward correcting injustices or promoting national healing. Joe Biden abused that power with the blanket pardon of his son and the mass commutations of sentences of thousands.
If left unchecked, future (Democrat) administrations will undoubtedly exploit this precedent and undermine the principles of accountability and equal justice under the law.
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