The outgoing US president announced a preemptive blanket pardon for his family members.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden used his last moments in office to roll out a blanket pardon for his members of his family, effectively shielding them from potential repercussions they could face under Donald Trump.
Announcing the move, Biden claimed his family has long been targeted in a concerted effort to harm him politically.
“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me – the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,” Biden said in a statement.
The pardon concerns “any nonviolent offences against the United States” five of Biden’s family members might have committed starting from January 1, 2014 to the end of his term as president.
“I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, [his wife] Sara Jones Biden, [first sister] Valerie Biden Owens, [her husband] John T. Owens, and [first brother] Francis W. Biden,” the outgoing president said, adding that the “pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing.”
The pardon effectively buries the years-long James Biden influence peddling affair, being probed by Congressional Republicans and journalists. While he did not face any criminal charges, he has been accused by Republicans of lying to Congress, as well as acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
