WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Joe Biden on Monday pardoned his siblings and their spouses, saying his family had been 鈥渟ubjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me 鈥� the worst kind of partisan politics.鈥�
鈥淯nfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,鈥� he said.
The pardons, announced just minutes before Biden left office, capped a slew of unprecedented presidential action by the Democrat, who has been known as an intuitionalist during his half-century in politics. , retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and allies who have been targeted by Republican Donald Trump. It was a remarkable use of Biden's presidential power: None of those pardoned has been charged with any crime, and the move was designed to guard against possible retribution by his Republican successor.
Last month, for tax and gun crimes, despite previous pledges not to.
Biden issued blanket pardons for his brother James and his wife, Sara; his sister, Valerie, and her husband, John Owens; and his brother Francis.
鈥淭he issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,鈥� he said in a statement.
The pardons came as Biden and others stood at the U.S. Capitol to see .
House Republicans in June recommending the prosecution of Hunter and James Biden, accusing them of making false statements to Congress as part of a Republican impeachment inquiry. James Biden鈥檚 lawyer at the time called it a 鈥渂aseless partisan action.鈥� James Biden鈥檚 business dealings were heavily scrutinized by Republicans as part of their failed impeachment inquiry. Republicans pointed to a series of payments that they claimed showed the president benefited from his brother鈥檚 work.
House Democrats defended the transaction, pointing to bank records they say indicate James Biden was repaying a loan provided by his brother, who had wire transferred $200,000 to him about six weeks earlier. The money changed hands while Joe Biden was a private citizen.
In a voluntary interview as part of the impeachment inquiry, James Biden said his brother 鈥渘ever had any involvement鈥� in the business dealings of other members of his family.
Other presidents have pardoned family members. pardoned his brother Roger for drug charges after he had served his sentence roughly a decade earlier. In his final weeks in office, , the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 Russia investigation.
Zeke Miller, Colleen Long And Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
