EBN- A source close to Joe Biden said the outgoing US president and his top aides are discussing possible preemptive pardons for people who the incoming Donald Trump administration may target.
Possible names include current and former officials such as retired Gen. Mark Milley, former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. Adam Schiff and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
According to Politico, the news comes after Biden issued a full pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, on December 1. The move sparked a backlash from Republicans and criticism from many Democrats. The White House said Biden did so, despite his previous pledges not to pardon his son, because “his political opponents did not seem to be going anywhere.
Trump to “revenge”
Throughout his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to “revenge” on his political enemies, and Milley, who retired as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last year, has long been a target of Republican attacks over the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Both Liz Cheney and Adam Schiff have been criticized by Trump for their investigations into the January 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol by a group of Trump supporters. The two were part of the House committee’s year-long investigation into January 6, culminating in the recommendation to bring criminal charges against Trump. Schiff was also the lead House prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial in the Senate.
Cheney lost her 2022 re-election bid to a Trump-backed Republican challenger, and Vice President Liz Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris over Trump, appearing with Harris several times on the campaign trail.
Schiff is now the senator-elect from California after winning the seat held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein in November. Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has faced intense scrutiny over the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and has been called to Capitol Hill to testify on school closures, the origins of the virus and more by House Republicans since retiring in 2022.
