President Biden previously promised not to betray preventive pardons before leaving office, telling CNN that he would take a “completely different approach” to the justice system than then-President Trump.
In December 2020, CNN host Jake Tapper asked Biden if he was concerned about rumors that Trump would issue a wave of preemptive pardons for some of his closest confidantes.
“Well, I’m concerned about the precedent it sets in how the rest of the world views us as a nation of law and justice,” he said.
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On Monday, Biden issued several preemptive pardons to prominent critics of Donald Trump. (Left to right: (Photo by William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images), (Photo by Mandel Ngan – Pool/Getty Images), (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images), (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images ))
Biden later tried to draw a distinction between how he would govern and the Trump administration.
“You’re not going to see that kind of approach to pardons in our administration,” Biden said. “Nor are you going to see a tweet-based approach to policymaking in our administration. You know, it’s going to be a completely different way that we approach the justice system.”
Since then, Biden appears to have had a change of heart — granting a slew of preemptive pardons on his way out.
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President Biden said he is considering preemptive pardons based on who President-elect Donald Trump nominates for key positions. (Getty Images)
Biden announced early Monday that he was issuing preventive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and members and staff of the now-defunct House Committee on the Attack on the Capitol on January 6.
Shortly before President Trump was sworn in on Monday, news broke that Biden had also issued pardons for five more members his family.
Biden teased the possibility of issuing preemptive pardons a few weeks ago in an interview with USA Today. At the end of his term, Biden’s pardons have proven to be some of his most controversial actions as president, particularly the pardon of his son Hunter Biden last month.
Some Republicans have signaled that they I want the pardons to be investigated.
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Joe Biden previously said that he would not issue preemptive pardons as president. (CNN/Screengrab)
President-elect Trump has pardoned political allies like Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn. However, unlike Biden’s last decision, both were charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) when the pardons were issued.
However, there is precedent for preemptive pardons. Former President Gerald Ford preemptively pardoned Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal.
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Anders Hagstrom of Fox News contributed to this report.
