Posted on 01/20/25
| News Source: CNN
President Joe Biden on Monday issued pardons for Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
The pardons, coming in the final hours of Biden’s president, amount to an extraordinary flex of presidential power. They serve to protect several outspoken critics of President-elect Donald Trump, including former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, whom Trump has vowed retribution against.
“Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy,” Biden wrote in a statement.
“Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties,” he went on.
Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Disease for decades, including during the outbreak of Covid in Trump’s first presidency. He has been subject to intense vitriol from the political right. Milley served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s first term and has warned Trump is a fascist.
Biden, in his statement, noted that the pardons did not denote guilt.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country,” he wrote.