President Biden’s White House is reportedly considering preemptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.
White House lawyer Ed Siskel is arranging talks about the possible pardon with several other senior Biden aides, including Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Politico reported, citing senior Democrats familiar with the conversations.
The chairman, who granted a far-reaching pardon to his son, Hunter, for the past eleven years of crimes or potential crimes earlier this week, is reportedly not involved in the deliberations, according to Politico.
The conversations included whether Fauci, Schiff or Cheney would even accept a preemptive pardon, which could indicate misconduct and worsen criticism from President-elect Trump’s team.
“I would urge the president not to do that,” Schiff told Politico. “I think it seems defensive and unnecessary.”
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the Rayburn House Office Building on June 3, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Trump’s appointment of Kash Patel The appointment of the next FBI director has reportedly boosted talks on preemptive pardons amid concerns about possible upcoming investigations or indictments once the new administration takes over in January.
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., who hosted Biden in battleground Pennsylvania before the election, called on the president to issue a blanket pardon when Patel’s nomination was announced — though he did not specify the intended recipients.
“By choosing Kash Patel as his FBI director, Trump has made it clear that he is more focused on settling personal scores than on protecting the American people or upholding the rule of law. Patel has openly published an “enemies list” in his book, naming individuals he and Trump plan to investigate and prosecute – targeting those who stood up to Trump’s lies, abuse of power and baseless attempts to overturn the election. Undo 2020. This is not a hypothetical threat,” Boyle said in a statement. “The people they are targeting include law enforcement officers, military personnel and others who have spent their lives protecting this country. These patriots should not have to live in fear of political retaliation for doing what is right. That is why I urge President Biden to grant a blanket pardon to anyone wrongfully targeted by this vengeful scheme.”
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wy., vice chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the 6th January Attack on the US Capitol, participates in the final public meeting at the Canon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on December 19, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., also spoke in favor of a preventative pardon last week, noting how former President Gerald Ford granted one to Richard Nixon.
“If it’s clear come January 19th that (revenge) is his intent, then I would recommend to President Biden that he issue preemptive pardons to people because that’s really what our country is going to need next year,” Markey told WGBH.
Schiff and Cheney both led the Jan. 6 select committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, delivers remarks during the final meeting of the House Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol at the Canon House office building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 19, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is under renewed scrutiny this week in light of the more than 500-page final report withdrawn by the House subcommittee investigating has done to the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. pandemic. The report – which shows this COVID-19 most likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China – supported how Fauci “played a critical role in discrediting the lab leak theory” in top scientific circles in early 2020 and later publicly. His testimony in Congress to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the report states, misled the public regarding the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) funding of gain-of-function research in coronavirus laboratories .
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It then cites how Fauci testified that the six-foot distancing rule imposed on Americans “just appeared” and did not support scientific quality standards when he was questioned about what studies he and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had conducted. (CDC) had reviewed the policy before announcing the policy. He also provided similarly vague testimony when asked what science supported mask mandates in K-12 public schools.
