Biden issued eye raising preemptive pardons on Trump inauguration day
Biden pardoned his family, Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the J6 Committee and more.
He’s back. But not before now-former President Biden dropped a few bombs on his way out.
We were told told one is supposed to be above the law, but today, just ahead of President Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President of the United States, Biden issued multiple preemptive pardons.
The pardons included Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the J6 Committee, members of the Biden family, as well as Ernest William Cromartie and Gerald Lundergan.
Earnest William Cromartie is better known as E.W. Cromartie, a South Carolina lawyer and Columbia councilman for 25 years, who was convicted after pleading guilty to tax evasion in 2010. He was also banned from practicing law in the state. He only served a 9 month prison sentence. Since then, he’s somehow gotten back into public government on the Columbia Housing Authority.
Lundergan was convicted in 2019 for making illegal corporate campaign contributions to his daughter, Alison Lundergan Grimes when she ran for U.S. Senate in 2014. He was sentenced in 2020 to 21 months in prison plus two years of probation and a $200,000 fine.
Biden also commuted the sentence for Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who is serving a life sentence for murdering two FBI agents in 1975.
Here’s Biden’s full statement on pardoning Milley, Fauci, and the J6 Committee:
Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy.
Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties.
In certain cases, some have even been threatened with criminal prosecutions, including General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and the members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. 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.
General Milley served our nation for more than 40 years, serving in multiple command and leadership posts and deploying to some of the most dangerous parts of the world to protect and defend democracy. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he guided our Armed Forces through complex global security threats and strengthened our existing alliances while forging new ones.
For more than half a century, Dr. Fauci served our country. He saved countless lives by managing the government’s response to pressing health crises, including HIV/AIDS, as well as the Ebola and Zika viruses. During his tenure as my Chief Medical Advisor, he helped the country tackle a once-in-a-century pandemic. The United States is safer and healthier because of him.
On January 6, 2021, American democracy was tested when a mob of insurrectionists attacked the Capitol in an attempt to overturn a fair and free election by force and violence. In light of the significance of that day, Congress established the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol to investigate and report upon the facts, circumstances, and causes of the insurrection. The Select Committee fulfilled this mission with integrity and a commitment to discovering the truth. Rather than accept accountability, those who perpetrated the January 6th attack have taken every opportunity to undermine and intimidate those who participated in the Select Committee in an attempt to rewrite history, erase the stain of January 6th for partisan gain, and seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions.
I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. 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 in fact have done the right thing—and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.
That is why I am exercising my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the 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. 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.
Biden didn’t just pardon the J6 Committee member, he also pardoned its staff, U.S. Capitol Police, D.C. Police, and anyone who testified in front of the J6 Committee. (Read his Order here)
Biden also preemptively pardoned his entire family, with the exception of himself and his wife, Jill.
Biden’s sister-in-law, Sara Biden, has deep ties to Kentucky politics. She’s also the focus of Paul Sperry’s December 2023 article on the Biden family’s influence peddling, of which she appears to be knee-deep in. Notably not on the Biden family pardon list are Joe Biden himself and his wife, Jill.
North State Journal contributor and Red State author Stacey Matthews has the hot takes on Biden’s pardons, in particular, the pardoning his family. Take a moment to check it out, it's worth a read.
Biden additionally pardoned certain individuals who petitioned the U.S. Dept. of Justice:
Darryl Chambers (Spent 17 years in prison for drug crimes)
Marcus Mosiah Garvey (Posthumous)(Black Nationalist convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s; he has been cited as inspiring Malcolm X)
Ravidath Ragbir (Migrant from Trinidad, immigrant activist; he was arrested for wire fraud in 2001 and faced threat of deportation)
Don Leonard Scott, Jr. (former Virginia speaker of the house convicted of drug offenses in 1995)
Kemba Smith Pradia (Sentenced to 24 years for drug offenses in 1994, Pres. Clinton commuted her sentence, Pres. Biden fully pardoned her.)
More To The Story
Reactions to the pardons mainly focused on Fauci, Biden’s family
President Trump and Vice President Vance haven’t yet issued statements on the pardons, but Trump did rip into them a bit during his address to the overflow crowd in Emancipation Hall following his swearing in ceremony.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who has been investigating Fauci's involvement in the origins of COVID-19 as well as for Fauci's role in pandemic guidance, was especially upset.
Protect women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines also took aim at the pardon for Fauci.
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-KY) issued a statement about Biden’s J6 pardon, singling out Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) for his role in the “sham January 6th Committee.”
It is unusual for one member of Congress to publicly shame another in the fashion Comer has.
“How appropriate that Joe Biden’s final act is to preemptively pardon Jamie Raskin — the man who was one of the chief advocates for two unjust impeachments of the newly elected 47th President of the United States and a member of the sham January 6th Committee,” said Comer. “Jamie Raskin will be remembered for his abuse of power, hypocrisy, consistent dishonesty, and unwavering loyalty to Joe Biden, despite evidence showing that Biden and his family were involved in peddling influence for tens of millions of dollars with our adversaries around the world.
Comer also said, “Jamie Raskin once claimed that ‘the seeking of pardons is a powerful demonstration of the consciousness of guilt, or at least the consciousness that you may be in trouble.’ It’s clear that the chickens have come home to roost for Jamie Raskin.”
The Oversight Committee's X account underscored Raskin's own words about preemptive pardons, writing, “The seeking of pardons is a powerful demonstration of the consciousness of guilt, or at least the consciousness that you may be in trouble. And that’s what’s so shocking about this.”
Comer also lit into the pardons for the “Biden crime family.”
All of former President Joe Biden’s pardons and commutations can be view on the Dept. of Justice website.