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President Biden had previously promised that he would not make a publication preventive pardons Before leaving office, he told CNN that he would take a “completely different approach” to the justice system compared to then-President Trump.
In December 2020, CNN host Jake Tapper asked Biden if he was worried about rumors that Trump would issue a wave of preemptive pardons for some of his closest associates.
“Well, it worries me what kind of precedent it sets for how the rest of the world views us as a nation of laws and justice,” he said.
Biden converts nearly 2,500 more sentences in the final days of his presidency
Biden issued several preemptive pardons to prominent critics of Donald Trump on Monday. (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 distinguish between his administration and the Trump administration.
“You won’t see this type of pardon approach in our government,” Biden said. “In our government you will not see the approach of making politics through tweets. 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 — issuing a plethora of preemptive pardons on the way out.
Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates in the final month of his presidency
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 appointing Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and members and staff of the now-disbanded House of Representatives Special Committee on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Shortly before President Trump took the oath of office on Monday, it was revealed that Biden had also issued pardons for five additional members his family.
Biden hinted at the possibility of a preemptive pardon in an interview with USA Today weeks ago. At the end of his term, Biden’s pardons were among his most controversial actions as president, particularly the pardon of his son Hunter Biden last month.
Some Republicans have signaled this wants the pardons investigated.
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Joe Biden had previously stated that he would not issue preemptive pardons as president. (CNN/Screengrab)
Trump, the new president, has pardoned political allies such as Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn. However, unlike Biden’s recent decision, both were charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) when these pardons were issued.
However, there are precedents for preemptive pardons. Former President Gerald Ford preemptively pardoned Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal.
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Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
