Joe Biden preemptively pardoned members of his family just moments before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
In his last act in office, Mr Biden granted clemency to a swathe of family members, including his brother James Biden and his sister-in-law Sara Jones Biden. He also pardoned his younger sister Valerie Biden Owens, along with her husband John T Owens, and his brother Francis W. Biden. He added them to the list just 15 minutes before his term ended.
While a president normally grants clemency at the end of his term in office to everyday Americans convicted of crimes, Mr Biden used it to pardon those who have not been formally accused of any crimes.
The former President has earlier in the day announced that he was granting clemency to a number of figures who have been criticised by Trump, including Liz Cheney, Dr Anthony Fauci, the main architect of America’s Covid response, retired General Mark Milley and members of the House committee charged with investigating the attack on the US Capitol on January 6th. Mr Biden, who was say just feet away from Mr Trump, claimed the decision was made to guard against potential “revenge” by the new Trump administration.
In a statement, Mr Biden wrote: “My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me – the worst kind of partisan politics.
“Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.
“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 finances.”
However, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, who served on the January 6 Committee, previously said that preemptive pardons indicate that there is some admission of inherent guilt.
“The seeking of pardons is a powerful demonstration of the consciousness of guilt, or at least the consciousness that you may be in trouble,” he said in a recent interview with CNN, adding: “’And that’s what’s so shocking about this.”
In December, Mr Biden also pardoned his controversy-hit son, Hunter Biden, despite promises he would not. The action meant that Hunter Biden was effectively spared a possible prison sentence for federal gun and tax convictions, even though Mr Biden had promised not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family members. The contentious move came just weeks before Mr Biden’s son had been set to receive punishment after he was convicted of three felony charges for federal gun violations.
The conviction made Biden, 54, the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be convicted in a criminal trial. Because of his conviction on felony charges in June last year, the younger Biden’s license to practice law in Washington, D.C. was suspended. However, he received a full presidential pardon for any crime committed over the last ten years, with Joe Biden claiming that his son had been “selectively, unfairly” prosecuted for political reasons.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgement that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offence,” Mr Biden said on Monday.
“In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough,” the former president previously said.
Mr Trump has hit out at the preemptive pardoning as “disgraceful,” telling US media that “many are guilty of major crimes”.
Meanwhile, Dr Fauci, who was expected by many to be hit with legal action over aspects of the Covid crisis, welcomed Biden’s pardon, but insisted that he has “committed no crime.”
“Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me,” he said.
Moments after Mr Biden’s last-minute pardonings, Trump addressed thousands in attendance at his inauguration, promising a new “golden age of America.” In the inaugural address, which was almost twice as long as the speech delivered in 2017, Mr Trump said that a “thrilling new era of national success” was to come after four years of “a horrible betrayal.”