President Biden's last minute Preemptive amnesty Some of President-elect Donald Trump's biggest critics, including Gen. Mark Milley, former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci, were widely criticized Monday on social media, hours before he exited the White House.
“Joe Biden using his last day in office to pardon Liz Cheney, among others, is the perfect expression of American political realignment and the corrupt spirit of the Democratic Party,” journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote.
Biden included anyone who served on the House January 6 committee on the list of preventive pardons. Milley accepted the pardon, while Fauci thanked the president but stressed that he had done nothing wrong.
NBC's Kristen Welker reported that Trump texted her his reaction, which read: “It's disgraceful. Many are guilty of high crimes!”
“If there was any doubt about who bears responsibility for the Covid pandemic, Biden’s pardon of Fauci seals the deal once and for all,” said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Milley thanked Biden in a statement on Monday.
“My family and I are extremely grateful for the action the President took today,” he wrote. “After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend any remaining time the Lord gives me fighting those who would unjustly seek retaliation for perceived slights.”
Biden issued several preemptive pardons for prominent Donald Trump critics on Monday. (From left to right: (Photo by: William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images), (Photo by Mandel Ngan – Pool/Getty Images), (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images), (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)))
“I don't want to put my family, friends and those I served with through the distraction, expense and anxiety that comes with it,” he added.
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“The swamp is protecting its swamp,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wrote on social media.
“Issuing this pardon should not be misconstrued as an admission that any individual is involved in any wrongdoing, nor should its acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any crime,” Biden said in a statement.
Former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill lamented the “sad” pardon during an appearance on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” on Monday and said it sets a precedent for the next president.
Biden was criticized for pardoning his sonHunter Biden, in early December, after repeatedly telling Americans that he believed in the rule of law and would accept the outcome of his son's trial.
“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere in the decision-making process at the Department of Justice, and I kept my word even as I watched my son being selectively and unfairly prosecuted,” the president said in a December statement. About pardoning his son.
“Biden pardoned Fauci. He says this is not an admission of guilt. But if Fauci was innocent, there would be no need for a pardon. Evidence shows that Fauci helped create the Covid pandemic, then covered it up. The investigation must move forward. All Covid “The Fauci files must be released,” Michael Shellenberger, CBR chair for policy, oversight and free expression at the University of Austin, wrote on social media.
Commentator Mary Katherine Hamm wrote: “No one is above the law except people who receive blanket and preemptive pardons.” “Shame to the end.”
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Notably, Special Counsel Jack Smith, former FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Attorney General Merrick Garland were not included in the pardon, despite speculation that they may face backlash from the incoming administration.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
