Biden administration weighing preemptive pardons for Milley, others: Report

President Joe Biden went against months of declarations to the contrary when, last Sunday evening, announced the decision to grant a sweeping pardon to his son, Hunter Biden.

According to new reports this week, it appears that clemency for Hunter may just be the beginning of what could be a pardon spree benefitting a number of high-profile figures, potentially including former Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Mark Milley, as Breitbart reports.

Pardons imminent?

Recent reporting from mainstream media outlets indicates that the concept of preemptive pardons is currently under exploration at the Biden White House, with a number of names already having emerged as potential recipients.

CBS News revealed that Ret. Gen. Milley is indeed among those being considered for a grant of legal relief.

Milley has infamously referred to Donald Trump, now the president-elect, as a “fascist,” and he also contributed information to journalists regarding his recollections of the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol unrest.

These past actions, some in the Biden administration believe, could subject Milley to targeted prosecution by the new Trump administration, something the current president wishes to prevent.

Not just Milley

As the Associated Press reports, another potential recipient of a preemptive pardon from Biden could be infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been the subject of serious scrutiny due to his conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Others under consideration reportedly include former Rep. Liz Cheney, for her role in the House Jan. 6 committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray, lawyers from the Justice Department who investigated and charged Trump with federal offenses, and many others.

Rep. Adam Schiff, who led two impeachment cases against Trump, has also been mentioned as a possible subject of a pardon, though he has publicly stated that he is not interested in such a scenario.

“I think the courts are strong enough to withstand” potential prosecutorial actions leveled by Trump,” Schiff declared.

Shattering norms

In a recent op-ed, Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon took aim at the very notion of the aforementioned preemptive grants of clemency, calling the idea “shocking – the exact kind of norm breaking that the Democrats love to accuse Trump of.”

Ungar-Sargon went on, “Think about what a preemptive pardon means: It is a tacit admission that the Democrats believe that Fauci or Schiff committed crimes – that there would be something to find of one went looking -- but also that the Democrats will not and would never go looking there.”

That would, Ungar-Sargon aptly observed, essentially be Biden's ratification of the concept articulated by Peruvian General Oscar Benevides, “For my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law,” and while that may not come as a surprise to those who have been paying attention for the last several years, it would still provoke justifiable fury.