Raskin, Dunn react to surprise pardons
From Maryland Matters
Among those receiving preemptive pardons were Maryland residents Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th), who served on the Jan. 6 committee, and former U.S. Capitol Police Office Harry Dunn, who testified before the panel about that day. Both said they were saddened by the fact that President Joe Biden felt the need to issue the pardons.
“I wish this pardon weren’t necessary, but unfortunately, the political climate we are in now has made the need for one somewhat of a reality,” Dunn told CBS News. “I, like all of the other public servants, was just doing my job and upholding my oath, and I will always honor that.”
Raskin told NPR that he was not sure a pardon could be accepted or denied once issued, but that his role on the committee was legal and appropriate and is protected from prosecution. But, like Dunn, he said, “It’s a sign of our strange times that public officials and public servants have to be pardoned just for doing their jobs and upholding their oath of office and upholding the law.”
WASHINGTON — Hours before his four-year term ended, President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons early Monday to several officials and lawmakers who have been the target of incoming President-elect Donald Trump’s threats of retaliation as well as several members of his family.
Biden pardoned retired Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, and Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan Police officers who testified before the committee.
“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,” Biden said in a statement Monday morning.
“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,” Biden said.
ust last month during an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” Trump said that Rep. Bennie Thompson and former Rep. Liz Cheney “lied” and “should go to jail.” The Mississippi Democrat and Wyoming Republican led the panel that investigated the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.
On that day a violent mob of Trump supporters marched to the Capitol — at Trump’s urging — and assaulted over 140 police officers and caused upwards of $2.8 million in damage to the Capitol, according to the Department of Justice.
Trump has promised to pardon those who were convicted on or pleaded guilty to charges related to the attack, describing them as “hostages,” “patriots” and “warriors.” Approximately 1,580 have been charged, according to the latest Department of Justice figures.
Former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who was among law enforcement officers to testify before the Jan. 6 committee, wrote on X Sunday that “The law and order dude is about to pardon those who assaulted the police. Collectively more than 40 rioters attacked me that day.”
Milley was chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s first administration and continued into Biden’s time in the Oval Office. The retired general is on record describing Trump as a “fascist” and a “wannabe dictator.”
Milley has been the target of Trump’s ire after he refused orders from Trump — among them a directive to send the military to quash protesters in D.C. during a wave of nationwide demonstrations after the murder by police of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Trump has called for political retribution against Milley. The retired general has been receiving “a nonstop barrage of death threats” since his retirement, according to journalist Bob Woodward.
Fauci, who led the U.S. as the chief medical expert during the COVID-19 pandemic, has for years also been the target of threats and investigations from congressional Republicans.
Trump launched partisan attacks on Fauci and began name-calling the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as early as 2020, describing him as “a total disaster.”
Pardons for the Biden family
Minutes before Trump swore his oath of office, the White House announced Biden’s preemptive pardons of his siblings and their spouses.
They include James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden.
“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,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden said the pardons “should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”
Rep. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said in a statement that the “preemptive pardons for the Biden Crime Family serve as a confession of their corruption as they sold out the American people to enrich themselves.”
Comer’s committee limped along for years on an investigation of Biden that the GOP-led panel said would lead to Biden’s impeachment, which did not occur.
Comer said his committee’s investigation “will be remembered as one of the most successful ever conducted by Congress.”