Aides to President Joe Biden are debating whether the outgoing Democratic president should issue preemptive pardons for figures newly elected President Donald Trump has named as his political enemies.
Politico reported this on Wednesday that among those being discussed for a general pardon are former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, Sen.-elect Adam Schiff and Dr. being Anthony Fauci.
Biden — who has been busy dealing with the fallout from his decision to pardon his son Hunter for gun and tax crimes — has not yet been included in the discussions, the outlet said.
White House officials fear that pardoning people who have not been charged with a crime could indicate impropriety.
But there are also concerns that if Kash Patel is successfully elevated to head of the FBI, Trump could really go after his critics, as Patel has suggested.
Cheney was one of only two Republican members of the House Select Committee during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, she became the face of the “Country over Party” movement during the 2024 election cycle, campaigning alongside the eventual Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump has insisted that Cheney should “go to jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!”
Aides to President Joe Biden discuss whether to issue blanket pardons to those considered enemies of President-elect Donald Trump, including former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney (R), who campaigned alongside Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris
Others eligible for preemptive pardons, according to Politico, include Dr. Anthony Fauci, who blames MAGA for the botched pandemic response, and newly elected Senator Adam Schiff, who was involved in the original Trump-Russia investigation.
Schiff has long been an enemy of Trump because of his involvement in the Russia investigation as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
The California Democrat was also the lead impeachment manager during Trump’s first impeachment, which involved a pressure campaign on the Ukrainian president.
Trump nicknamed the retiring congressman, who will be sworn in as California’s newest senator in January, “Shify Schiff” and “pencilneck.”
Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, took much of the brunt from conservatives over the Trump administration’s botched response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of Trump’s top allies on Capitol Hill, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has repeatedly called for Fauci to be jailed.
‘You should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. You belong in jail, Dr. Fauci,” she said at a congressional hearing.
During Trump’s first visit to the White House, his supporters repeatedly chanted “lock her up!” about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton on her decision to use a private email server while serving as Secretary of State.
But Trump never took action once in power.
President Joe Biden is not involved in the staff’s discussions about granting preemptive pardons to Trump’s political enemies
In 2024, however, Trump ran on a platform of “retaliation” and revenge.
Politico reported that “the beneficiaries are unaware” that the Biden administration was eligible for a preemptive pardon.
Schiff said he wouldn’t want to be a receiver.
“I would urge the president not to do that,” Schiff told Politico. “I think it seems defensive and unnecessary.”