Biden chose a date nearly six years before the first cases of SARS-CoV-2 were identified, adding an unexpected layer of intrigue to the act of clemency.
Rand Paul condemned Biden for issuing a pardon to Dr. Anthony Fauci for all crimes he may have committed as one of his last acts in the White House.
It omitted the fact that the Department of Energy, the federal government's biggest expert on biological research, believes the virus behind COVID leaked from a Chinese lab conducting such research that indirectly received U.S. funding, affirming the FBI's conclusion.
With just hours left of his presidency, Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House Jan. 6 committee.
The outgoing president acted to short-circuit incoming President Trump’s stated plans to exact retribution from perceived enemies.
President Biden said the pardons are not an "acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing" but rather protect individuals from "unjustified and politically motivated prosectutions."
President Biden on Monday morning, just hours before President-elect Trump’s inauguration, announced pardons for Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and
President Biden preemptively pardons Dr. Anthony Fauci, former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, and retired Gen. Mark Milley to protect them from Trump inquiries.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, in an extraordinary use of the powers of the presidency in his final hours to guard against potential “revenge” by the incoming Trump administration.
In addition to Fauci, Biden also granted pardons to General Mark Milley, the Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, and the US Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee.
On Jan. 22, posts on the social media platform X alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to extradite Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the U.S. president from 2021 to 2022, to Russia as part of a deal to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The posts provided no evidence to support the claim.