Biden preemptively pardons Fauci, Cheney, Milley to protect against Trump inquiries

WASHINGTON − Hours before leaving office, President Joe Biden on Monday issued blanket preemptive pardons for potential targets of President-elect Donald Trump in an unprecedented move to shield some of the incoming president's top foes from criminal prosecution.

Those given pardons include Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; retired Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the lawmakers and staffers from the House committee that investigated the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Those lawmakers include former GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, and Sen. Adam Schiff of California.

"These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions," Biden said in a statement.

Trump had called Milley a traitor. He criticized Fauci for the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. And he said members of the Jan. 6 committee should be jailed for investigating him and calling him the central cause of the riot at the Capitolthat injured 140 police officers and temporarily halted the counting of Electoral College votes.

None has been charged with crimes, but all were believed to be among the targets as Trump promises "retribution" in his second term for his political enemies. The pardons covered unspecified actions from Jan. 1, 2014, through Monday.

"Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families," Biden said. "Even when individuals have done nothing wrong − and in fact have done the right thing − and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances."

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Trump criticized Fauci for response to COVID-19 pandemic

Republican lawmakers have frequently attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci for his work during the COVID-19 pandemic when many rejected lockdowns and coronavirus vaccines. 

At a contentious hearing over the COVID-19 response in June, Republicans accused him of helping fund Chinese government efforts to create the virus, hiding medical data about the pandemic and making up U.S. guidelines, all of which Fauci said was not true.

At the same hearing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., refused to call Fauci “doctor” and said he “deserves to be in prison” before being escorted out of the chamber.

Fauci said he and his family have received threats throughout the pandemic, including death threats. 

Cheney served on Jan. 6 committee, campaigned against Trump

Trump has said Cheney, once the highest-ranking Republican woman in the House of Representatives and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, should “go to jail” for her role on the Jan. 6 committee.

Cheney was also one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump on allegations that he sparked the violence of that day. Trump claimed the committee sat on evidence related to the insurrection.

“She should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!” Trump said in one Truth Social post in March.

“SHE SHOULD BE PROSECUTED FOR WHAT SHE HAS DONE TO OUR COUNTRY!” he posted.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who served as chairman of the Jan. 6 committee, issued a statement with Cheney saying members of the panel had been targeted continuously for “harassment, lies and threats of criminal violence.”

The committee found that Trump was the central cause of the riot, which he denied. But federal charges that he conspired to overthrow the government were dismissed after he won the November election. Thompson and Cheney said without pardons, lawmakers and staffers on the committee could be targeted for prosecution by the same officials who “led this unprecedented attack on our constitutional system.”

“We have been pardoned today not for breaking the law, but for upholding it,” Thompson and Cheney said in a statement.

Trump has accused Milley of treason

Trump has accused Milley of treason and appeared to suggested he should be executed.

“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” Trump wrote on Truth Social in September 2023 of Milley’s calls to his Chinese counterpart in 2021 assuring him that the U.S. had no intentions of launching an attack. Milley said he was performing his duties to avoid conflict with China.

After the post, Milley said he would take “adequate safety precautions” to ensure his and his family’s safety.

“We don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, or to a tyrant or dictator, and we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator," Milley said in his retirement speech at Joint Base Myer-Henderson in September 2023. "We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it.”

The blanket pardons follow Biden's broadly worded pardon in December for Hunter Biden, which was made not only to clear his son of existing gun and tax felonies but to shield him from any future charges by Trump's Justice Department.

Discussions among Biden and top White House officials about preemptive pardons have taken place for weeks. Some Democrats, including Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, pushed for the action ‒ alarmed both by Trump's repeated past threats to prosecute his political enemies and his pick of longtime ally Kash Patel to replace Christopher Wray as director of the FBI.

They note that anyone facing an FBI investigation or federal indictment could be forced to spend significant time and money defending themselves, and the risk of prison time is real if there is a conviction.

Yet pre-pardoning people who have not been charged of any crimes raises several legal concerns, legal experts have said. Accepting a pardon carries with it the suggestion of accepting guilt. Others have warned the actions could set a new precedent for pardons and opens the door for Trump to take similar actions.

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., blasted the pardon for Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the Jan. 6 committee. Comer accused Raskin of dishonesty and abuse of power in investigating Trump for years and leading the second impeachment inquiry.

“It’s clear that the chickens have come home to roost for Jamie Raskin,” Comer said.