President Biden is reportedly considering granting blanket preemptive pardons to notable critics of President-elect Donald Trump from both political parties to protect them from possible retaliation or legal action by the incoming administration.
Sources close to the discussions told CBS News that Biden has been weighing this option with senior White House officials, although no specific individuals have been formally proposed for pardons. The idea of preemptive pardons and potential recipients has been more thoroughly discussed by key figures in the administration, including White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients and White House Counsel Ed Siskel.
Potential recipients of these pardons include well-known individuals who were at the center of several major controversies during Trump’s first term and remain subjects of his ongoing criticism.
This group includes Dr. Anthony Fauci, who coordinated the national COVID-19 response and later became Biden’s science advisor; retired General Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has publicly criticized Trump and provided details about his actions surrounding the January 6 Capitol insurrection; California Democratic Senator-elect Adam Schiff; and other lawmakers who played significant roles in Trump’s two impeachment trials or the January 6 investigation, including former Republican Representative Liz Cheney, who campaigned against Trump.
Fauci, Milley, and Cheney have not yet commented. In a November NPR interview, Schiff expressed that he does not think a preemptive pardon is necessary, arguing that the courts are strong enough to resist Trump’s influence.
