总统乔·拜登周一，特朗普政府向即将上任的特朗普政府的潜在目标发布了先发制人的赦免令，包括安东尼·福奇博士、退役将军马克·米利和在众议院1月6日委员会任职的议员。
“我们的国家每天都依赖于无私奉献的公务员。他们是我们民主的命脉，”拜登在当选总统前几小时的一份声明中说唐纳德·特朗普宣誓就职。
“然而令人担忧的是，公务员因忠实履行职责而不断受到威胁和恐吓，”拜登补充说。
川普在2024年的竞选中一再发誓要对他的政敌进行“报复”，特别是挑出像莉斯·切尼这样调查美国国会大厦袭击事件的立法者。特朗普说，切尼和其他委员会成员应该被关进监狱。
特朗普称拜登的行为是“可耻的”文本NBC新闻。“很多都是重大犯罪!”他告诉新闻媒体。
2023年退休的参谋长联席会议主席米利长期以来一直是共和党人攻击从阿富汗撤军的目标。国家过敏和传染病研究所前主任福奇一直因联邦政府对疫情冠状病毒的反应而受到批评。
拜登宣布后不久，米利发表了一份声明。
“我和我的家人对总统今天的行动深表感谢，”他说。“在为我们的国家忠诚服役43年，保护和捍卫宪法之后，我不希望把上帝赐予我的剩余时间用来与那些不公正地寻求报复的人战斗。我不想让我的家人、朋友和那些与我一起服役的人经历由此带来的分心、开销和焦虑。”
米莉补充说:“四十多年来，穿着军装为我们伟大的国家服务是一种荣誉和特权，我将继续对我们的国家和宪法保持信念和忠诚，直到我咽气为止。”
福奇告诉美国广播公司首席记者乔纳森·卡尔，他接受了赦免，并对此表示感谢。
福奇说:“我真的非常感谢拜登总统今天代表我采取的行动。”。“让我非常清楚，乔恩，我没有犯罪，你知道，没有任何可能的理由指控或威胁对我进行刑事调查或起诉。”
但福奇说，起诉的威胁和可能性“给我和我的家人带来了无法估量和无法忍受的痛苦。”
在周一早上的一份联合声明中，众议员本尼·汤普森(Bennie Thompson)和前众议员利兹·切尼(Liz Cheney)对拜登认识到他们和他们的家人面临的挑战表示感谢，但坚称他们没有做错任何事情。
汤普森和切尼写道:“我们今天被赦免，不是因为我们违反了法律，而是因为我们维护了法律。”。
“这些确实是‘特殊情况’，当公务员被赦免以防止政府对他们的错误起诉时，他们作为国会议员忠实地揭露了2020年选举后长达数月的犯罪行为，包括煽动暴力叛乱以阻挠权力的和平转移，”他们补充说。
美国广播公司新闻据报告的12月初，拜登考虑采取这样的行动，几天前他发布了对他儿子亨特·拜登的全面赦免。在本月早些时候接受《今日美国》采访时，拜登暗示他仍在纠结这个决定。
一些民主党人反对先发制人的赦免，包括在众议院1月6日委员会任职的参议员亚当·希夫。
希夫说:“在一届政府离任之际，先发制人地给予全面赦免的先例是我们不想开创的。”在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中说十二月。
但拜登在周一的声明中，对试图重写2021年1月6日在美国国会大厦发生的暴力事件表示担忧。
拜登说:“我相信法治，我乐观地认为，我们法律机构的力量最终将战胜政治。”“但这是特殊情况，我不能凭良心什么也不做。毫无根据和出于政治动机的调查对目标个人及其家庭的生命、安全和金融安全造成了严重破坏。”
他说:“这就是为什么我行使宪法赋予我的权力，赦免马克·a·米利将军、安东尼·s·福奇博士、国会议员和专责委员会的工作人员，以及在专责委员会作证的美国国会大厦和华盛顿大都会警察。”“这些赦免的发布不应该被误解为承认任何个人参与了任何不法行为，接受也不应该被误解为承认任何罪行。我们的国家应该感谢这些公务员，感谢他们对我们国家的不懈奉献。”
前国会警察哈里·邓恩(Harry Dunn)表示，他“永远感激”拜登的行动，也感激他的领导。
“我希望这种赦免是不必要的，但不幸的是，我们现在所处的政治气候使得赦免成为现实。我，像所有其他公务员一样，只是做好我的工作，坚持我的誓言，我将永远尊重这一点，”邓恩说。
Biden preemptively pardons Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley and Jan. 6 committee members
PresidentJoe Bidenon Monday issued preemptive pardons to potential targets of the incoming Trump administration, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and lawmakers who served on the House Jan. 6 Committee.
"Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy," Biden said in a statement just hours before President-electDonald Trumpis sworn into office.
"Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties," Biden added.
Trump in his 2024 campaign repeatedly vowed "retribution" on his political enemies, specifically singling out lawmakers like Liz Cheney who investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump said Cheney and other committee members should be put in jail.
Trump called Biden's action "disgraceful" in atextto NBC News. "Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!" he told the news outlet.
In this Nov. 29, 2021 file photo Anthony Fauci (R), Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to the President, speaks alongside U.S. President Joe Biden as he delivers remarks on the Omicron COVID-19 variant
Milley, who retired as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2023, has long been a target of Republican attacks over the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been a lightning rod for criticism over the federal government's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Milley put out a statement shortly after Biden's announcement.
"My family and I are deeply grateful for the President’s action today," he said. "After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights. I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety."
"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve our great country in uniform for over four decades, and I will continue to keep faith and loyalty to our nation and Constitution until my dying breath," Milley added.
Fauci told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl he accepted the pardon and is grateful for it.
"I really truly appreciate the action President Biden has taken today on my behalf," Fauci said. "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."
But Fauci said the threats and possibility of prosecution "creates immeasurable and intolerable distress on me and my family."
In a joint statement Monday morning, Rep. Bennie Thompson and former Rep. Liz Cheney, who served as chair and vice chair of the January 6 Select Committee, expressed gratitude to Biden for recognizing the challenges they and their families face, but asserted that they did not do anything wrong.
"We have been pardoned today not for breaking the law but for upholding it," Thompson and Cheney wrote.
"These are indeed 'extraordinary circumstances' when public servants are pardoned to prevent false prosecution by the government for having worked faithfully as Members of Congress to expose the facts of a months-long criminal effort to override the will of the voters after the 2020 elections, including by inciting a violent insurrection to thwart the peaceful transfer of power,"they added.
ABC Newsreportedin early December that Biden was considering such an action, days after he issued a full pardon for his son, Hunter Biden. In an exit interview with USA Today earlier this month, Biden signaled he was still wrestling with the decision.
Some Democrats argued against preemptive pardons, including Sen. Adam Schiff, who served on the House Jan. 6 committee.
"The precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration, I think is a precedent we don't want to set," Schiffsaid on ABC's "This Week"in December.
Representative Liz Cheney, center, speaks as Representative Bennie Thompson and chairman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, left, and Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, listen
But Biden, in his statement on Monday, expressed concern about attempts to rewrite the violence that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
"I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics," Biden said. "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."
"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," he said. "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."
Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer, said he was "eternally grateful" to Biden for the action but also for his leadership.
"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. I, like all of the other public servants, was just doing my job and upholding my oath, and I will always honor that," Dunn said.
