Washington, D.C., January 20, 2025 In a historic and unprecedented move, President Joe Biden, during his final hours in office, has issued preemptive pardons to several prominent individuals, including his brother James Biden, General Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. More precisely, that discriminative stage is dealing, in its own way, with the reinstatement of these individuals from politically driven criminal blame in relation to the inauguration of the new government, the President-elect, Donald Trump.
Pardoning Family Members
Among the many to have been extended the benefits of these pardons is the President's brother, James Biden (photo), whose business activities have been the subject of criticism. As such, the pardon thus finally closes a 5year investigation into presidential family business affairs that encompassed charges of quid pro quo and conceivable criminal behavior. Although no accusations of 'as is' federal impropriety were made to James Biden, his finances and business activities were subject to scrutiny for charge of abuse of president's power of Joe M. Biden. President Biden justified the pardon as it is, and should be, not an acknowledgment of liability, but a tool to protect his family from a barrage of politics bashing.
Protecting Public Servants
Apart from family bonds, President Biden pushed forward on the issue of finalizing the pardons for public figures who have consistently opposed President-elect Trump. Both General Mark Milley, former Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases also got pardoned. Both have been targeted through a nasty dose of Trump thoughts and his supporters. According to the speech of Biden, such pardons should not be interpreted as an acceptance of fault, nor as a show of gratitude towards vengeance.
Shielding January 6 Committee Members
Members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack, including former Republican Representative Liz Cheney and Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, also received pardons. These individuals have been blamed, threatened and their pardons are to be ex post facto to them to shield them from politically motivated criminal proceedings. Biden also pointed out that the receipt of these reprieves is not synonymous with guilt, but it is a way to shield public servants from baseless political attacks.
Legal Implications and Reactions
Clemency has never before been the act of the president, with President Biden's Executive clemency, the exercise of clemency is unprecedented in the modern history of the United States. However, the reach of a presidential pardon is not unlimited to state offenses, and it will not shield an offender from state civil or criminal liability. Legal practitioners also note that the decision to accept a pardon appears to be a complete admission of guilt, even though all the pardonses in this scenario have never been charged with any offence. Pardons elicited responses ranging from thanksgiving for the peace secured to anxiety about what is at risk.
President-elect Donald Trump stands "on the edge" of assuming his first term as the 45th President, while President Biden's effort to block political opportunism from being the reason for pardon is an indication of the highly polarized political climate with absolute antagonism in Washington D.C. The transfer is serve1d to guard citizens from politically motivated accusations, an unhealthy consequence of the state of American politics.
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