In his last day as president, Joe Biden pardoned five members of his extended family, including his two brothers, James Biden and Francis Biden, and his sister Valerie Biden Owens.
He also issued pardons to former White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci, who helped coordinate the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
James Biden’s wife Sarah Jones and and Valerie Biden Owens’ husband John Owens were also pardoned. The pardons were preemptive, none of them have been charged with any crimes.
The proclamation says Biden’s five family members are granted a “full and unconditional pardon for any nonviolent offenses against the United States which they may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon.” The pardon was signed on Sunday but was announced Monday as Biden sat in the Capitol Rotunda for President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Biden earlier pardoned his son Hunter Biden for any actions during the same 10-year time period.
James Biden had partnered with Hunter Biden on several foreign business deals. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer wrote a letter to Trump’s attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, saying while Hunter Biden was pardoned, his “main accomplice in his influence peddling schemes (aside from Joe Biden himself),” was “James Biden, the President’s younger brother.”
Comer earlier sent the Department of Justice criminal referrals for Hunter and James Biden, alleging they made “false statements to Congress.”
In a statement released with the pardons, President Biden said, “I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finance,” Biden said.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,” Biden said, according to ABC News.
NBC News’ Kristen Welker said in an X post Trump sent her a text about the pardons saying, “It is disgraceful. Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES! DJT”
In 2023, Trump said if he was reelected he would appoint a “real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family.”
Biden preemptively pardons Fauci, Cheney, Milley and members of Jan. 6 committee
Biden also issued preemptive pardons to several of Trump’s foes, including Fauci, who oversaw the nation’s response to the COVID-19 crisis and was accused by Sen. Rand Paul of lying to Congress and covering up who was responsible for the pandemic.
Fauci, who was director of the National Institutes of Health, released a statement according to The Associated Press saying, “Despite the accomplishments that my colleagues and I achieved over my long career of public service, I have been the subject of politically-motivated threats of investigation and prosecution. There is absolutely no basis for these threats. Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime.”
Gen. Mark Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also pardoned. Milley, who has been critical of Trump, released a statement according to The New York Times that said, “After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights. I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety.”
Biden said he also preemptively pardoned, “Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee,” according to Roll Call. At this point, there are few details about the pardon.
