President Biden on Thursday announced he’d commute almost 1,500 sentences and pardon 39 people amid blowback over the immunity and pardons he granted his son Hunter Biden.
Biden said in a statement the commutations and pardons were granted to those “who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation.”
The White House called it the largest act of clemency in a single day in modern history. The full list of pardons can be found here.
More actions around clemency are coming, Biden said.
The Hill’s Julia Mueller and Cheyenne M. Daniels have takeaways from the pardons, including a notable name that didn’t make the cut: Democratic Baltimore state attorney Marilyn Mosby, who was convicted of mortgage fraud and perjury earlier this year. Civil rights activists and members of the Congressional Black Caucus have advocated for Mosby to get a pardon.
This comes as Democrats increasingly speak out against Biden’s move to pardon his son.
In newly reported remarks, former Biden adviser Anita Dunn told The New York Times DealBook Summit that the Hunter Biden pardon makes Democrats look like hypocrites.
“The argument is one that I think many observers are concerned about,” Dunn said. “A president who ran to restore the rule of law, who has upheld the rule of law, who has really defended the rule of law kind of saying, ‘Well, maybe not right now.’”
The White House is discussing preemptive pardons for Trump critics, expressing fear the president-elect will retaliate against his political enemies, including former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and newly minted Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
This discussion has split Democrats, with Schiff saying he doesn’t need a pardon or want one.
But some are angling for preemptive pardons.
Former President Clinton told “The View” that he’s open to a discussion with Biden about a preemptive pardon for his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Trump promised to lock up Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail in 2016, but his Justice Department did not go after her.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the former chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said he would accept a preemptive pardon if offered one.
Trump told Time magazine that he’s going to start pardoning most Jan. 6 rioters the first hour he takes office.
“Maybe the first nine minutes,” he said.
An inspector general report released Thursday found the FBI should have done more to collect intelligence ahead of the Jan. 6 riots. It also detailed the actions of the “confidential human sources” who were present on that day.
