January 20, 2025

MINORITY REPORT: Biden Issues Pre-Emptive Pardons on Last Day in Office.

Just hours before Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, President Joe Biden issued pre-emptive pardons for a number of high-profile figures, shielding them from potential retribution by the incoming administration.

The pre-emptive pardons were announced Monday morning for Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, lawmakers and staff that served on the Jan. 6 Committee, including former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), and U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee.

In his 1956 novel Minority Report, later adapted into a 2003 movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, Philip K. Dick created the “precrime unit” that would predict future crimes to be committed by potential miscreants. But can a president issue a pardon before a sentence has been issued? At the Justice.gov Office of the Pardon Attorney is the following question and answer:

Can the President pardon someone before they are indicted, convicted, or sentenced for a federal offense against the United States?

It would be highly unusual, but there have been a few cases where people who had not been charged with a crime were pardoned, including President Gerald Ford’s pardon of President Richard Nixon after Watergate, President Jimmy Carter’s pardon of Vietnam draft dodgers and President George H.W. Bush’s pardon of Caspar Weinberger. President Donald J. Trump pardoned Joseph Arpaio and others after they were charged and convicted, but prior to sentencing. See Pardons Granted by President Donald Trump (justice.gov)

Fauci is no doubt thrilled to have gotten his precrime pardon, but issues a “what, me worry?” public statement: Fauci Issues Statement After Pre-Emptive Pardon. Conservatives Respond. “I really truly appreciate the action President Biden has taken today on my behalf. Let me be perfectly clear, Jon, I have committed no crime, you know that, and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me,’ he said.”

UPDATE:

As for the January 6th committee members:

UPDATE (from Steve): To Gerald Ford’s credit, he didn’t issue a midnight pardon to Nixon and willingly took the political hit for it. It’s a completely different thing that Biden did, filled with spite for our institutions and, oddly enough, his own (already tattered) credibility.

Posted at 10:50 am by Ed Driscoll