Former Vice President Dick Cheney Follows Daughter Ex-Rep. Liz Cheney Saying He Is Voting For Harris Full view WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 09: U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Vice Chairwoman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, delivers opening remarks during a hearing on the January 6th investigation on Capitol Hill on June 9, 2022 in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol for almost a year, will present its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for Joe Biden. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
In the final hours of his presidency on Monday, Joe Biden issued pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. His pardons also included Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before that committee.
Dr. Fauci, the former chief medical adviser to the president, told Politico that he had “committed no crime” but appreciated the pardon.
“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,” Biden said before the inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on Monday.
Trump has long been fixated on the Americans he believes have wronged or betrayed him. Biden decided to issue the pardons after Trump and his allies warned of an “enemies list.” The list was said to include people who had crossed him politically and questioned his role in the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as well as his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss.
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The committee’s panel included Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), former Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Elaine Luria (D-Virginia) and Stephanie Murphy (D-Florida), and current Reps. Pete Aguilar (D-California), Zoe Lofgren (D-California), Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) and Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi).
Cheney and Thompson released a statement following the pardons. “We have been pardoned not for breaking the law but for upholding it,” the statement read.
Biden said that some of the people he pre-emptively pardoned were “threatened with criminal prosecutions.”
“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,” he wrote.
Trump reacted to the pardons, saying, “It is disgraceful,” and without evidence, claimed that “Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!”
“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,” Biden said.
The pardons are a significant demonstration of presidential power unprecedented in recent presidential history.
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