‘Where does this end?’ Dick Durbin says Biden was wrong for issuing preemptive pardons

Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said Tuesday on CNN that former President Joe Biden was wrong to issue last-minute preemptive pardons just before his term ended.

Minutes before President Donald Trump was sworn into office on Monday, the White House announced that Biden had granted preemptive pardons to his family members, members of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, and others. On “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” Blitzer asked Durbin if he believed it was the “wrong” move, to which the lawmaker said the pardons need to “come to an end.”

“I think so, to be honest with you. I like Joe Biden, and I think he was a good president,” Durbin said. “But as I said in that earlier interview, where does this end? You have to provide some sort of basic commutation or pardon for everyone who is involved in government now on a regular basis. I think this ought to come to an end.”

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“I raised that question with Mr. [Kash] Patel,” Durbin added. “Are you going to go out and file these lawsuits against individuals in retribution for political grievances? He said he wouldn’t do it. Well, let’s hold him to it, if that’s his situation.”

On his last day as president, Biden issued preemptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, nine members of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, and five of his family members. In justifying the pardons for Fauci, Milley, and the Jan. 6 Select Committee members, Biden said the decision was made because the group did not deserve to be “targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.”

As for his family members — brother Frank, brother James, James’ wife Sara Biden, sister Valerie Owens, and her husband John Owens — Biden said that “baseless and politically motivated investigations” were “wreak[ing] havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families,” thus prompting him to grant the pardons.

Since the announcement, Biden has faced significant pushback from both sides of the aisle, with political analysts saying the move tarnished his final day in office. A CBS News poll released Sunday said Biden left office with a 37% approval rating, while 63% disapproved of his job.

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